John Cena: the WWE poster boy of this generation. Photo by Hub Pacheco
[Note: This post crossposted in Duy Tano’s Comics Cube blog. Thanks Duy, Hub!]
It seems the fallout from DC's Flashpoint announcements has been fully felt by now. Among other things, their decision to reset all titles from zero has probably upset fans the most. All of a sudden, DC's rich superhero lore has been set aside to start over anew. Hardcore fans are complaining left and right, with many threatening and going through with cancelling their subscriptions. Stupid move all around, right? Not necessarily.
Let me play devil's advocate for a minute and say that hardcore fans, for any hobby, are just plain hard to please. You do the same thing they liked before over and over again, they hate it too. You try anything new, they hate it. You take away the new thing they liked after they'd gotten used to it, and they will hate that too. Customer retention is important, but it does reach a point where it's no longer worth the effort, at least to try to keep everyone happy.
To make an analogy out of left field, let's switch hobbies and take a look at the state of pro wrestling, particularly the WWE. It's easy to scoff at pro wrestling as a fake sport, but it has a rich history in the world of entertainment, affecting the fields of live events, cable television, and just the way sports has been portrayed in the mainstream.
And the WWE are pioneers in entertainment, from helping launch closed-circuit television with Wrestling Classic/Wrestlemania I, Monday Night Raw, outdoor events in Caesar's Palace, etc. And WWE seemingly reached its peak creatively and financially during the Attitude/Monday Night Wars era, between 1996-1999. Post Monday Night Wars, WWE slowly lost their biggest draws (Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind) to injuries, retirements, and career shifts.
I would argue that at this point WWE was in a similar situation to where DC had been for a few years now. Like DC, WWE would ocassionally come up with a few pearls, but the comparisons to the more succesful era would linger and hurt them. Are they trying hard enough with the storylines? Are the wrestlers they're using likable enough? Why is this really talented technical workhorse not making them money if fans like him/her so much? And so on.
Essentially, they are stuck in a situation where they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. How can they please this or that fan if they aren't being given a fair shake? In the WWE, this question would be: Is it fair to condemn every little John Cena promo as inferior to the Rock? In DC, this would translate to: Is it fair to damn every Grant Morrison/Warren Ellis work as derivative of Alan Moore's?
But, see, DC and WWE may have found themselves an out: newer fans. Not only do newer fans not have these preestablished biases older, more hardcore fans may have, they may have more purchasing power, and are more important to the future of the company. They may lose a huger, more established fanbase in the short term, and lose money in that target shift, but it would pay off in the long term. They also see this as starting with a clean slate, literally starting storylines from scratch wihtout worrying about preestablished histories.
Of course, this analogy is imperfect, especially as DC's actions seem reactionary to the success of their great competitor Marvel. Another fault with this comparison is that unlike DC, WWE's shift from hardcore to casual young fan was more gradual and subtle. Some argue Vince McMahon Jr. splitting from the NWA and pro wrestling's terriories model, to usher in the Rock N' Wrestling Connection was the impetus of his break from hardcore fans.
Still, some parts of this analogy should ring true to anyone who was a wrestling and comic book fan throughout the '90s. The Death and Return of Superman was immensely popular, but left a bitter aftertaste that some fans still haven't forgiven DC for. Likewise, the push of HHH into a solid, if uncharismatic, 13 time World Champion, was both lauded and condemned by fans through the years. Some say he deserves credit for all the hard work he puts in, others point at his inability to draw like his predecessors and how he has undue influence over his career in his capacity as an executive senior advisor.
Where is the WWE now? In recent years, they had slowly but surely conquered the world of social media, topping searches in Yahoo Video and succesfully launching their own social network, the WWE Universe. Furthermore, Wrestlemania 27 topped the 1 million buyrate they had predicted, thanks to the involvement of crossover draws like The Rock, Steve Austin and Snooki. Although some people may still criticize how they did this or got that, they met their goals and they're definitely making money.
Where will DC Comics be next year, or in ten years time? Hard to tell, but if they play their cards right, even without the hardcore fanbase backing them up, they may do pretty good for themselves.
It seems the fallout from DC's Flashpoint announcements has been fully felt by now. Among other things, their decision to reset all titles from zero has probably upset fans the most. All of a sudden, DC's rich superhero lore has been set aside to start over anew. Hardcore fans are complaining left and right, with many threatening and going through with cancelling their subscriptions. Stupid move all around, right? Not necessarily.
Let me play devil's advocate for a minute and say that hardcore fans, for any hobby, are just plain hard to please. You do the same thing they liked before over and over again, they hate it too. You try anything new, they hate it. You take away the new thing they liked after they'd gotten used to it, and they will hate that too. Customer retention is important, but it does reach a point where it's no longer worth the effort, at least to try to keep everyone happy.
To make an analogy out of left field, let's switch hobbies and take a look at the state of pro wrestling, particularly the WWE. It's easy to scoff at pro wrestling as a fake sport, but it has a rich history in the world of entertainment, affecting the fields of live events, cable television, and just the way sports has been portrayed in the mainstream.
And the WWE are pioneers in entertainment, from helping launch closed-circuit television with Wrestling Classic/Wrestlemania I, Monday Night Raw, outdoor events in Caesar's Palace, etc. And WWE seemingly reached its peak creatively and financially during the Attitude/Monday Night Wars era, between 1996-1999. Post Monday Night Wars, WWE slowly lost their biggest draws (Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind) to injuries, retirements, and career shifts.
I would argue that at this point WWE was in a similar situation to where DC had been for a few years now. Like DC, WWE would ocassionally come up with a few pearls, but the comparisons to the more succesful era would linger and hurt them. Are they trying hard enough with the storylines? Are the wrestlers they're using likable enough? Why is this really talented technical workhorse not making them money if fans like him/her so much? And so on.
Essentially, they are stuck in a situation where they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. How can they please this or that fan if they aren't being given a fair shake? In the WWE, this question would be: Is it fair to condemn every little John Cena promo as inferior to the Rock? In DC, this would translate to: Is it fair to damn every Grant Morrison/Warren Ellis work as derivative of Alan Moore's?
But, see, DC and WWE may have found themselves an out: newer fans. Not only do newer fans not have these preestablished biases older, more hardcore fans may have, they may have more purchasing power, and are more important to the future of the company. They may lose a huger, more established fanbase in the short term, and lose money in that target shift, but it would pay off in the long term. They also see this as starting with a clean slate, literally starting storylines from scratch wihtout worrying about preestablished histories.
Of course, this analogy is imperfect, especially as DC's actions seem reactionary to the success of their great competitor Marvel. Another fault with this comparison is that unlike DC, WWE's shift from hardcore to casual young fan was more gradual and subtle. Some argue Vince McMahon Jr. splitting from the NWA and pro wrestling's terriories model, to usher in the Rock N' Wrestling Connection was the impetus of his break from hardcore fans.
Still, some parts of this analogy should ring true to anyone who was a wrestling and comic book fan throughout the '90s. The Death and Return of Superman was immensely popular, but left a bitter aftertaste that some fans still haven't forgiven DC for. Likewise, the push of HHH into a solid, if uncharismatic, 13 time World Champion, was both lauded and condemned by fans through the years. Some say he deserves credit for all the hard work he puts in, others point at his inability to draw like his predecessors and how he has undue influence over his career in his capacity as an executive senior advisor.
Where is the WWE now? In recent years, they had slowly but surely conquered the world of social media, topping searches in Yahoo Video and succesfully launching their own social network, the WWE Universe. Furthermore, Wrestlemania 27 topped the 1 million buyrate they had predicted, thanks to the involvement of crossover draws like The Rock, Steve Austin and Snooki. Although some people may still criticize how they did this or got that, they met their goals and they're definitely making money.
Where will DC Comics be next year, or in ten years time? Hard to tell, but if they play their cards right, even without the hardcore fanbase backing them up, they may do pretty good for themselves.
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