Something really jumped out at me last night on the way home from the book fair. Marvel was represented (albeit nothing I cared about, and, really, if she wanted to read Secret Wars I'd go dig out the old back issues and buy any I'm still missing and not fuck around with a "retelling"), and Dark Horse was well represented with the Star Wars stuff. Scholastic was represented (though I mentioned in the other thread how odd I found Bone's absence to be), as were Boom! (though, sadly for them, their Disney stuff, which I'm sure was their cash cow, is in a bit of limbo until Marvel actually picks up the licenses) and a few smaller publishers I wasn't familiar with, but whose stuff seemed shitty (though, hey, it might appeal to kids).
And, on the way home, my daughter told me how she and a couple of the boys in her kindergarten like to play Brave and the Bold at recess. And that it was disappointing that there was nothing in any way related to Superman or Batman there.
So who the hell is DC targeting with the relaunch? They've said 18-35 year olds are their target audience. Judging from what I've seen, and despite the assertion that "women wear pants" a few months ago, it's not the potential female readers. (Maybe Batwoman or Birds of Prey might appeal more than the cheesecake of Catwoman and Red Hood that's been plastered all over the interwebs for the past week.) The content sure as hell isn't going to be good for kids; would you give a 10-year-old a book where Batman fucks Catwoman for five pages, or where Speedy and Robin play ping-pong with Starfire's pussy?
Which raises the question: how many possible male readers, aged 18-35, do you reckon are out there who weren't reading DC comics already?
They need kids! I'm not saying they have to pander, but don't show Catwoman straddling Batman and playing with his nips for five pages. And, despite what they say constantly, kids obviously are open to reading comics and like superheroes. Sure, they're not buying comics, but that's more because they don't fucking sell them anywhere, and the few remaining places that do charge $3+ per fucking book. Christ almighty, you've got three fucking Batman books, not counting spinoffs; isn't there room for one that someone who's not old enough to vote might enjoy?
You've got the whole thing spearheaded by Geoff Johns, with the biggest fanboy hard-on for the Silver Age in existence; Dan Didio, who hates kids and original ideas; Jim Lee, second only to Rob Liefeld (also on board) as the most responsible for the EXTREME!!!!!!1!!!!! turn in comics in the 1990s that turned off a shit-ton of readers; and Scott Lobdell and Bob Harras, who, along with Fabian Nicieza (who's also along for the ride), completely fucked the X-Men into oblivion.
Once the novelty wears off, the long-term effects cannot be good.
The man is a funnybook god, after all.
