Two Different Companies, Two Different Directions

There’ve been quite a few changes at Marvel and DC recently, and I’m sure most of you have been keeping tabs on all of these changes. Unfortunately, one company seems to be making changes for the better while the other continues to shoot itself in the foot. So, let’s take a closer look at the recent happenings at comics two biggest companies and see who’s making the right moves and who’s making all the wrong moves.

We’ll begin with DC. If you’re into comics and you follow the industry, there’s no possible way you can’t have heard about DC’s acquisition of Jim Lee’s Wildstorm Productions. This is a huge move for DC. Not only does DC get some great comics in the form of such titles as Astro City, Battle Chasers, and Leave it to Chance, but they’ll also get to publish some very promising series such as Warren Ellis’ Planetary and Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics. Currently, DC has a 28.2 percent market share to Marvel’s 31 percent, but with the acquisition of Wildstorm, DC bolsters its market share to 34.1 percent and in doing so becomes the number one comics publisher.* DC has also signed such creators as John McCrea, Karl Kesel, and Walter Simonson to exclusive contracts while renewing the exclusive deals of such DC mainstays as Garth Ennis and Howard Porter. Locking up some of your best talent is an extremely wise move on DC’s part as it ensures that a competitor won’t lure talent away. Another big plus for DC is the sheer diversity of their line. Not only do they have standard superhero fare, but they’ve also got some great mature readers titles under their Vertigo imprint and even some nice miscellaneous titles like the wordless Gon, which is published under their Paradox Press imprint. I think there’s always room for improvement, but as far as I can tell DC is doing everything they can to make themselves the number one publisher in terms of sales and quality.

On the other end of the spectrum you’ve got Marvel. Marvel is in a state of flux right now with the new executive blood from Toy Biz calling some shots and their recent restructuring due to their bankruptcy. Assuming as I did that you’ve all heard about DC’s acquisition of Wildstorm, I think it’s safe to assume that you’ve all probably heard about the recent layoffs at Marvel. Two of Marvel’s top executives, Shirrel Rhoades and Joseph Calimari, have been fired along with a host of editors. These moves may or may not have been necessary, but they definitely hurt Marvel in the long term. These almost certainly damage company morale and they definitely ensure that no Marvel employee has any feeling of job security. Aside from the layoffs, Marvel has cancelled some of it’s best titles, chief among them Heroes For Hire and they’ve driven off two of the best writers to hit the X-titles in a long, long time in Joe Kelly and Steven Seagle. Signing Brandon Peterson to pencil adjectiveless X-Men is definitely a positive, as is signing Alan Davis to temporarily plot and write both Uncanny and adjectiveless after Kelly and Seagle’s departure. However, the reasons for Kelly and Seagle’s departure are the same reasons that Marvel won’t be able to keep any top notch writing talent on the two main X-books for any extended period of time. I think Peter David put it best when he said, "When you’re on an X-book, you’re not steering the boat. You’re lashed to the top of an elephant and the elephant goes wherever it wants.." Harras and X-editor Mark Powers assert so much control over the direction of both main X-titles that none of comics top writing talent wants to work on the books. I think if Harras and Powers were a little less controlling, finding some superb talent to work on the books wouldn’t be a problem at all. Lastly, Marvel has managed to stay at the top of the heap for a long time with a line of comics that lacks real diversity. That’s not to say that their line stinks as that’s not the case. They’ve got their share of crap like DC does as well as their share of excellent titles such as Iron Man, Thunderbolts, and Deadpool. The problem is the fact that all of Marvel’s titles employ the standard protagonist/antagonist formula. Marvel has tried to give the illusion of diversity with such gimmicks as their MC2 line, but I don’t think anyone is fooled. Every single book is the good guys versus the bad guys, with virtually ever title being a superhero book. The one exception is Deadpool, but Deadpool looks to be very close to cancellation. There’s nothing wrong with superhero titles; I certainly thoroughly enjoy several superhero books from both Marvel and DC, but if Marvel is to succeed long into the future they’re going to have to evolve with the times and this will invariably entail diversifying their line. If they’re unwilling to do this I think the only direction for them is down.

Once Wildstorm is officially under the DC umbrella in January I think the beginning of a new era in the comics industry will officially get underway. Marvel has been top dog for a long time, and now DC will take over the top spot. I foresee the gap between the two companies widening from there, but Marvel definitely has a track record of success, so they could rebound quite well. Highly doubtful in my opinion, but not impossible. In any event, the rest of ’98 and beyond looks extremely bright for DC while being very questionable for Marvel. If Marvel is to rebound, they’re going to have to get and keep some top talent on the X-books and they’ll need to diversify their line. I see no signs that either of these things will happen, but as always, only time will tell.

* Market share statistics taken from Diamond Comics Distributors units market share, September 1998

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Copyright © 1998 Ian Johnston

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