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Fred the Dragon
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The absolute final permanent deaths of….
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The Kansas City Times, Missouri, November 1, 1962
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By now, everyone who’s interested has probably heard about #Batman 50. If not, beware! Spoilers ahoy!
So, Batman 50 is the culmination of a year-long story written by Tom King wherein Batman and Catwoman get married. However, this past weekend DC Comics and the New York Times spoiled the issue, by revealing that the couple does not marry.Â
As a longtime comic fan I can say that this revelation did not surprise me. It is extremely rare that a comic character from Marvel or DC is allowed to evolve or progress in any way, shape or form. They remain constant. The main reason for this is marketability. The owners of these characters want to maintain the status quo. Significant changes to a character can upset and alienate their fan base, causing people to drop the book. Â
Of course, sometimes characters are allowed to undergo brief changes. Peter Parker married Mary-Jane Watson. Clark Kent married Lois Lane. Most of the time, however, these changes are brushed away with a wave of the editorial hand. It usually involves a big story, event or crisis. The character is effectively reset to their baseline mode.
As a comic reader, I never expected Batman to get married and live happily ever after. He’s Batman. He is the poster child for grim and broody vigilantes. So, the big reveal did not really upset me.
What bothered me was the timing of the reveal. If DC Comics and the New York Times had revealed their spoilers on the same day the comic came out, I’d have no problem with it. But they revealed it three days before the issue was to be released. That, in my humble opinion, is not only bad form, on their part, but potentially damaging to sales.
DC Comics has hyped #batrimony as a big event. They were offering lots of variant covers. I’m sure some other stores bought more of the book just to get access to the rarer covers, because they assumed they’re going to get a lot of sales. Then they go and spoil the issue.
The fan backlash against the reveal is not surprising. To describe some comic readers as ‘passionate’ might be an understatement. A lot of readers seem to feel that DC has betrayed them personally with the reveal. Many peoples have commented on social media that they will drop Batman from their pull lists. Others are saying they will not purchase the variant covers they purchased.
For smaller retailers, especially the ones who’ve invested heavily in this event, this could be a real kick in the bank book. Casual readers who might have come in to peruse the issue because of the wedding, may not show up because they now know the book is a non-event.Â
Overall, I believe DC may have done more harm than good by their actions this past Saturday. Their spin machine is already trying to justify their actions, but to me, and I suspect many other readers/retailers, their reasons do not justify their actions. Â
There isn’t much they can do to placate angry fans, that sort of mood has to run its course, but they could take steps to appease the retailers. The easiest way to do that would be to allow returns of unsold copies of Batman 50 and its variant covers, in exchange for credit. I doubt that will happen, at least until we see what sort of sales numbers the comic has this Wednesday, but it would be a nice olive branch from the company.
I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.
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