Commentary: Didio's 20 Answers

Read the January 23rd edition of "Dan DiDio: 20 Answers, 1 Question" at Newsarama, then come back...

Back already? Great. Reading Didio's replies, I couldn't help but have some visceral reactions:

ON TITANS FUTURE: Didio says, "Jericho was revealed as that book’s villain, we found out that Jericho, in leaping from body to body has also been picking up character traits and memories of the different people he’s been in, so it’s been leaving his mind a little shattered and rambling."

In DC DECISIONS (as I understand it) Jericho specifically tries to assassinate one of the candidates. Over in TITANS, he's confused and wants to do evil things. So, he's NOT "acting" like Slade or any villain in particular. He's just acting like a psychotic crazy person. And, what about all the heroes he's possessed? They have no sway on his psyche? And again, with this idea that Slade out and out "hates' the Titans. He NEVER hated the Titans - it was a contract he was FORCED to uphold. Then abandoned, and even became the Titans' ally. Everyone keeps claiming they revere the Wolfman/Pérez era Titans - as they proceed to ignore all the great things Marv and George built.

ON TITLES FOR "ALL AGES" and TWEENS: By Didio's response, it's almost like he doesn't understand the difference between "all-ages" and "for kids under 8 years old." Something like THE INCREDIBLES is all-ages, providing fun adventure for the kids, and some sly references and intelligent scripting for older folks. And while "all-ages" isn't specifically geared towards tweens, it would at least appeal to them.

Books like TINY TITANS and SUPERFRIENDS are only appealing to small children (and maybe some fun-loving fanboys). Tweens would grow out of those series by the time they were 7 or 8. And DC Comics has nothing for tween consumers. The mainstream DC titles are took dark for Tweens, with harsh language, sexual references, rape and violence.

Didio says, " I think people sometimes forget what brought them in when they were kids. An Uncanny X-Men by Claremont and Byrne, or a New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Perez and even the Legion of Super-Heroes by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen – a lot of those books are books that current fans now point to as being what brought them to comics when they were kids. "

Yes, those books brought me into comics when I was 9-12 years old. But I must have missed the issue where Cyclops called Wolverine an a--hole (language used in FINAL CRISIS). Or the one where Cosmic Boy tore someone's body in half on-panel while Lightning Lad decapitated some woman (se several DC titles, like INFINITE CRISIS and 52). Or the issue where Professor X mind-wiped the team after Magneto raped them all (like in IDENTITY CRISIS). Or the issue where Starfire was lying naked in bed handcuffed, waiting for Robin to come in and have kinky sex with her (like in an issue of TEEN TITANS). Yeah, I missed those.

The sad thing is some of those books - IDENTITY CRISIS, FINAL CRISIS, INFINITE CRISIS, TEEN TITANS - feature mainstream DC characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Robin on their covers. Is Didio really suggesting this content is appropriate for a 9 year old?

Didio states that tween readers like "to read up." That is true. But so do younger readers. They will outgrow TINY TITANS and SUPERFRIENDS sooner than you think. And the content of the mainstream DC universe is too adult for them.

The real answer would be to tone down the adult content of the mainstream DCU to make it appropriate for tweens. But that's not the flavor of the day at DC. Their bread and butter is from the older fanboys, and I'm sure DC would live in fear of alienating them. So, short answer? DC really isn't interested in acquiring new, young customers. They'd rather try to get older long-term fans to buy more books.

Marvel, on the other hand, is more "all-ages" friendly for the most part. Stuff like MIGHTY AVENGERS, UNCANNY X-MEN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN contain similar content as the books I grew up reading. The language may be a little coarser and the suggestiveness may be a little more, but it does track with what you see on TV these days compared to 20 years ago.

Marvel also has a "tween line" with their MARVEL ADVENTURES. Does Didio really not understand the gap in DC's product line?

THE MULTIVERSE: Didio says, "Let's go through the idea of the Multiverse first. Grant has a very clear, concise interpretation of so many of the worlds that inhabit the Multiverse – that's one of the reasons I say it's Grant's playground, because he really understands it, gets it, and knows what the full potential is. So, realistically, I'd rather work with Grant on exploiting the potential as he sees it, and I think the fans will react very positively to it."

So, it's Grant's playground because "he really understands it, gets it, and knows what the full potential is"... unlike John Broome, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Marv Wolfman? Yeah, those hacks just didn't get it.

It's parallel worlds. It's a pretty simple concept. I dunno, I enjoyed a ton of parallel world stories, and Earth-2 and Earth-C stories - before Morrison came in. We don't need Morrison's acid tripping to tell parallel world stories. I feel DC has ruined the fun and wonder of the Multiverse. They brought it back, and then squandered every potential it offered.

LEGION OF 3 WORLDS: Asked about the status of LEGION OF 3 WORLDS, which has been running exceedingly late, Didio replies, "We decided that, even though it's connected to Final Crisis, the story's events take place in the future, and therefore it didn't have to run lock-step in conjunction with the main series. Legion of 3 Worlds is essential to the DC Universe and tied to Final Crisis, but because stories take place in a future timeline, it doesn't need to come out in the same way that Revelations did."

So.... when the heck is it coming out? Just about everything surrounding FINAL CRISIS has been a monumental clusterf--- of scheduling. "Status" means "what is happening with the series right now?" That's part of the question. I'm disappointed Newsarama failed to press for any answers.

It's no wonder my DC pull list has dwindled to almost nothing....