DC's WildStorm Acquisition: Great Coup or Letdown?
It's only been about three months since WildStorm became an official
part of DC, and already it's looking as though that acquisition might not
pay off in as big a way as DC had thought. Sales of WildStorm's Cliffhanger
line have been good, but horrendous delays of premiere titles Battle
Chasers and Danger Girl have hurt reader interest in both books. Back
issue prices for both Battle Chasers and Danger Girl are down,
reflecting the decrease in interest for both titles. How is the rest of
WildStorm's lineup doing and what changes need to be made?
The first major change is an obvious one. DC needs to do whatever is
necessary to ensure the timeliness of all of WildStorm's books. Many of
WildStorm's titles do manage to keep a monthly schedule, such as Crimson
and Wildcats. The sales of the habitually late titles are still quite
good, but they could be much, much better if the books came out on a
predictable schedule. I don't even think that necessarily means
monthly, but the schedule needs to be firm. If Battle Chasers, Danger Girl,
Astro City, and the rest of WildStorm's consistently late titles came out on
quarterly basis then I think that would help. Sure, having them come
out monthly would be ideal, but if that's not feasible then designating the
books as quarterlies would be best. Having them come out every four
months like clockwork would eliminate their reputation as "late books" and
probably ease the frustration felt by fans who know the books are
supposed to be coming out each month and in reality are not.
Secondly, WildStorm needs to continue to increase the diversification of
their line. They've already taken steps in that direction by launching
such titles as Planetary and The Authority as well as Alan Moore's
America's Best Comics line. Moore's League of Extraordinary
Gentleman mini series is only two issues old, but both issues have
completely sold out and are being collected into a trade paperback.
This doesn't offset the lateness problems that plague the Cliffhanger
and Homage lines, but it helps.
On the positive side, sales are good to excellent for virtually every
WildStorm title and new creators are signing up. Chris Bachalo is
going to be writing and drawing a book for the Cliffhanger line, and even
more new talent will almost certainly sign on. While I currently only read five
WildStorm titles, the quality of each title is either very good or
outstanding, and with the imminent release of the rest of the America's
Best Comics line I stand to add to that number. The fact is people are
really into WildStorm's books, and the line looks to be getting
stronger by the day.
In short, I think WildStorm was a great acquisition for DC, but still
isn't living up to expectations. I think if the necessary adjustments I
mentioned above can be made, the sky's the limit for WildStorm.
However,if other WildStorm books starting being consistently late then much
of the momentum and strength they currently have could be lost. DC executives
have been quoted as saying that they were going to make an effort to
correct the lateness problems, but as of yet that hasn't happened.
If and when it does happen WildStorm is poised to become comic's premier
imprint.
