2023 is shaping up to be a big year for DC Comics. The publisher is doing everything it can to recapture its former greatness, reminding fans why they fell in love with DC in the first place. The publisher is trying to fix its past mistakes, which is commendable, but it doesn’t magically fix all of DC’s current problems.
DC has made a lot of mistakes over the years, and the publisher can do more to correct its mistakes than it does. Modern DC has been far from perfect for a long time, and its worst problems are just as constant.
10 DC Has Almost Completely Dropped Its B-List
DC’s B-list has been suffering unfairly for quite some time, but things have gotten worse in recent years. That’s a problem, because the company’s B-list has some of its most endearing characters. Over the years, they’ve played a big part in DC’s best stories, and fans love characters like Metamorpho, Plastic Man, Power Girl, and Huntress.
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Modern DC has pretty much ditched its B-list heroes. They’ve starred in a few miniseries and supporting stories since the start of infinite border , but few continuous series. The most important characters are those on the A list, those who sell insurance. While that’s understandable, it hurt DC in the long run. However, the rise of James Gunn in the DCU could help change this situation.
9 The Black Seal Wasn’t Used As Well As It Should Be
DC’s Black Label has released some brilliant stories since its inception, doing a pretty good job as a spiritual successor to Vertigo and other mature DC reader imprints. Although many mistakenly say that the Black Seal is DC’s “Batman Seal”, this ignores brilliant stories like Thieves, Wonder Woman: Historia, Rorschach there Aquaman: Andromeda.
DC’s Black Label imprint has given readers some great stories, but it could do more. If we compare it to Vertigo in its early days, when the imprint was a mix of DC books and creator-owned books, we see how often the Black Seal is weak. DC needs to use its Black Label and come up with really different stories from its main label.
8 DC’s Obsession With Watchmen Is Laughable
Rorschach it was a masterpiece, in part because of its almost invisible connection to Watchmen. watchmen, a longtime favorite, has become a controversial topic among DC fans. Some readers are okay with its fallout and others hate it. Both parties agree that DC hasn’t always engaged well with watchmen. For each Rorschach there is a Apocalyptic clock.
For some reason DC, and Geoff Johns in particular, keep coming back to the pit of watchmen . Despite fan complaints, the company continues to do so. watchmen It’s sparking interest, but the fact that so much of it is negative should set off alarm bells in DC.
7 DC Continuity Is Chaos
DC’s continuity is unnecessarily complicated. That’s a pretty big hurdle for new fans, and the consensus is that understanding DC stories requires a PhD in continuity. A good example is the finale of Death Metal there Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. They would both have brought back the multiverse, but in Death Metalno one knew what the end meant.
Since DC Rebirth, no one really knows what’s canon and what’s not. Sometimes it feels like continuity is what any DC story needs. DC’s history is rich and the universe post-crisis He showed how to use it almost entirely without creating confusion. Modern DC seems to have forgotten how to tell clear, connected stories.
6 DC Forgot How To Create Team Books
Teams are an important part of DC history. The Justice Society was the first major superhero team and the model for teams that followed. The Justice League is the cornerstone of superhero teams. The Teen Titans are hugely popular in and out of the comics. Groups like the Doom Patrol, the Outsiders or the Legion of Superheroes are legends.
In recent years, DC has completely lost its teams. infinite border narrows DC’s roster down to two team books: Justice League there Titan Academy. Titan Academy finished, and even Justice League he’s gone, but even before that, fans felt that DC mismanaged its strong stable of hero teams.
5 DC Spent Too Many Tropes
Tropes are a big part of superhero comics. Some are awesome and many are part of the general superhero language. However, DC took some tropes too far. All fans of the publisher are tired of tropes like the villainous Superman, the Batgod, continuity reboots and many more. Even a good trope can be exhausting when abused.
Both Marvel and DC have tropes they use exclusively, and both have tropes fans hate. It’s par for the course for comics, but DC can very easily determine which tropes are liked and which aren’t. The fact that they continue to use their less popular tropes is odd.
4 Everything is a crisis and it’s starting to get annoying
DC Crisis events are very popular. Stories with the word “Crisis” in the title have been around since the early days of the DC Multiverse in the Silver Age. The word has become synonymous with major events in DC history and has been used sparingly for years. However, in the 1900s, three crime books were published in four years, from 2004 to 2008, all with the word Crisis in the title.
A crisis event used to mean something, but repetition made the term too familiar to resonate. Worse still, events like Crisis Infinity there Dark crisis in the level ras Infinitas are nostalgia festivals for Crisis on Infinite Earths. If everything is a “Crisis”, then nothing is.
3 The Silver And Bronze Age Obsession Has Run Out
In the mid-2000s, fans got excited when DC started bringing back concepts from before the Crisis . Return of the Multiverse, the original Legion of Super-Heroes, Supergirl, and Barry Allen all got readers excited. Unfortunately, what happened was basically “Silver/Bronze Age Part II: This Time With More Mature Themes”.
Instead of finding ways to remix past and present, DC just hooked new themes onto old stories and characters. Fans are fed up with this way of doing things, and DC has started to address it, but fans are rightly suspicious. DC has fooled the whole world before,
2 Female DC Superheroes Didn’t Get The Attention They Deserved
DC has amazing female superheroes and in recent years books like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Wonder Woman: History, Poison Ivy, etc., showed them. However, if you look at DC’s list of publications, there aren’t as many female-led books as there should be. While this is an industry-wide problem, it’s most evident in DC.
The lack of team books is part of the problem, and the publisher’s restricted editorial line makes the lack of female heroes on their roster all the more apparent. The new publishing initiative has more women-led books, but the publisher can do better. DC has the best superheroines in comics and it needs to show them off.
1 There Are Too Many Batman Books
DC publishes a lot of Batman books. It’s been a no-brainer since the ’90s, when The Dark Knight had four ongoing series, an animated series, and countless miniseries. However, with the more limited editorial landscape of recent years, the overuse of Batman is a more visible issue. Fans love the Dark Knight, but even the greatest Batman understands there can be too much of a good thing.
DC publishes Batman books because they sell. The publisher often puts their best talent into them, so they’re usually good, but that doesn’t mean fans wouldn’t rather see that talent working on another book. DC has a problem with Batman, and the sooner it diversifies its portfolio, the better.