Superman & Batman
DARREN HIGH
they use those characters to help the rest of their line.
They can start by putting Superman and Batman back into the JLA at
least for a few stories a year. And when they are not in the JLA
then their places there can be held by Steel, Supergirl, Nightwing
or The Huntress.
Then the can start up the Teen Titans with Robin and Superboy as members.
After that maybe solo series for Supergirl, The Eradicator, The Huntress
and Man Bat.
Then relaunch the Suicide Squad using Batman villains such as Poison
Ivy, Deadshot and Bronze Tiger and toss in Superman villains like
Silver Banshee, Metallo and The Prankster.
The when could return World's Finest as a team up book for Superman
and Batman characters. We could have stories with The Eradicator &
Azrael, The Thorn & Catwoman, Superboy & Robin, The Huntress & Supergirl,
Nightwing & Steel, The Guardian & Man Bat, etc. Or it could just be
a monthly book featuring characters from Superman and Batman books
in team up or solo tales.
Then bring back DC Comics Presents and Brave and The Bold. Screw continuity
this is the business of selling comics. Have a book with Superman teaming
up with popular and obscure DC characters and one for Batman doing the
same in hopes of popularizing lesser known characters. I'd go with 4
part story arcs over one shots, although the occassional one shot would
be good.
Bringing back the Superman Family and the Batman Family as quarterlies
could be a good way to tell stories of other characters from the Superman
and Batman books.
Bring back Batman and The Outsiders with a really gritty team of vigilante
heroes. Keep Katana, Geo Force, Black Lightning, and The Eradicator and
toss in Deathstroke, Green Arrow, Black Canary and The Vigilante (female
version).
Then start a line of reprint comics carrying the Elseworld's logo so
as not to confuse the continuity minded. Have a Golden Age Tales of
Superman, Golden Age Tales of Batman, Silver Age Tales of Superman
and Silver Age Tales of Batman.
I think these steps would help to introduce the rest of the DC Universe
to fans who only follow Superman and Batman. Of course it would also
be intersting if once a year the Superman and Batman books had a team
up story that crossed of through each lines books. It would be a 12
part story just using the monthly Superman and Batman books.
Christine Louise Schooley
hi...@cotton.uamont.edu (DARREN HIGH) wrote:
>If DC has only Superman and Batman as their top sellers then why don't
>they use those characters to help the rest of their line.
>
You're talking serious overkill here, Darren. Truth be told, Batman
and Superman aren't strong enough characters to float the entire DCU on
the back of. Look around rac.dcu here, and you'll find nary a mention of
either guy (Jim Smith's super Superman reviews and my own pathetic
attempts at reviewing the Batman books excepted).
>They can start by putting Superman and Batman back into the JLA at
>least for a few stories a year. And when they are not in the JLA
>then their places there can be held by Steel, Supergirl, Nightwing
>or The Huntress.
I'd rather DC not stain either character by putting them in the JL
right now. <g>
>
>Then the can start up the Teen Titans with Robin and Superboy as members.
Now, this I like. Toss in the Spoiler, Very Green Arrow, and a few
others, and you're there.
>
>After that maybe solo series for Supergirl, The Eradicator, The Huntress
>and Man Bat.
>Then relaunch the Suicide Squad . . . <SNIP>
>The when could return World's Finest as a team up book for Superman
>and Batman characters . . . <SNIP>
>Then bring back DC Comics Presents and Brave and The Bold . . . <SNIP>
>Bringing back the Superman Family and the Batman Family . . . <SNIP>
>Bring back Batman and The Outsiders . . . <SNIP>
>Then start a line of reprint comics carrying . . . Golden Age Tales of
>Superman, Golden Age Tales of Batman, Silver Age Tales of Superman
>and Silver Age Tales of Batman.
And change the name of the company to "The Superman and Batman
Comic Company?" :)
I think you'd be better served by hopping a time machine back to the
seventies. :) Or maybe investing in only back issues from that era.
Like I said, Batman and Superman aren't strong enough as characters
to put DC back on the top of the sales chart.
Only good stories can do that.
Waving,
C.
Kirby Krueger
DARREN HIGH <hi...@cotton.uamont.edu> wrote:
>If DC has only Superman and Batman as their top sellers then why don't
>they use those characters to help the rest of their line.
>
story. One thing I like about DC is that there isn't a sense that
they'll tell Waid "Flash isn't selling well enough, so we're sticking
Batman in issue 118. Work with it." They let Waid write his flash
stories. If he wants to use Batman, that's great, but it's not directed
by the commercialization factor. It reminds me of all the Wolverine and
Punisher cameos that Marvel likes to do, to boost sales of books - the
stories about them are rarely worth the trouble. If I bought an issue of
a comic to see my favorite character, and it read like a fill-in, I
wouldn't go back.
--
Kirby Krueger, kir...@peak.org
<*> "Most .sigs this small can't open their own jump gate."
Sebastien D St-Jean
>
>Well,
>hi...@cotton.uamont.edu (DARREN HIGH) wrote:
>>If DC has only Superman and Batman as their top sellers then why don't
>>they use those characters to help the rest of their line.
>>
think they should be seen everywere, maybe a monthly title on World Finest
would be good, as for the JLA, i like it best after breakdowns, when Superman
was leader and the members were "Maxima, Bloodwihn, Booster gold, Bleu beetle,
Guy Gardner as GL, Fire, Ice." These day's the JLA title leaves mush to be
desired. Although, if you want to see Superman and Batman together, wait about
a month, in one of the Supes. title, ACTION i think, there will be a team up.
cyborg.
LOUIS J. KAWALEK
: You're talking serious overkill here, Darren. Truth be told, Batman
: and Superman aren't strong enough characters to float the entire DCU on
: the back of. Look around rac.dcu here, and you'll find nary a mention of
: either guy
But BOTH have newsgroups of their own(alt.batman &
alt.superman). I don't know about their floating all of the DC Universe,
but they genereate quite a few postings.
Lou
Don Brinker
: I can't say i totaly agree, Superman and Batman are DC top sellers, but i
Agreed. I think they're risking overexposure on both characters as is.
: maybe a monthly title on World Finest would be good,
Maybe, if it was closer to the first mini than _Legends of the World's Finest_
(which was pretty much a Superman story that Batman just happened to be in
IMHO)
: as for the JLA, i like it best after breakdowns, when Superman was leader
: and the members were "Maxima, Bloodwihn, Booster gold, Blue beetle,
: Guy Gardner as GL, Fire, Ice."
I didn't care for this too much. Between the fact that
1) All of the existing chracters who weren't from Krypton received major
personality transplants
and
2) Superman *totally* overwhelmed the stories
(something which I believe can easily be avoided. See Pre-Crisis JLA stuff)
it took most of the enjoyment out of the stories for me. Probably would've
dropped the book, too, except by the time I was thinking about it, Dan Vado
had started already (and did a much better job, IMHO)
: Although, if you want to see Superman and Batman together, wait about
: a month, in one of the Supes. title, ACTION i think, there will be a team up.
No thanks. Even though they *might* be seperated at that point that I
wouldn't have to but all the others, it's written by Micheline. After the
issues of his I read (from 701-the end of Dead Again) he's on my "don't touch"
list along with Ron Marz and others...
- Don