DC Comics properties hit with major downsizing
There is a lot of sorrow in Batman’s Gotham City. But it’s actually worse in the real-life city of Burbank, California, home of DC Comics.
On Aug. 10, Warnermedia announced layoffs of enormous proportions for most of its various arms and companies. Among those hardest hit were DC Comics; DC Universe, the streaming service; and DC Direct, the in-house manufacturer of Dc-related merchandise and collectibles.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, roughly a third of DC Comics editorial staff was let go, including Bob Harras, the editor-in-chief. Bobbie Chase, who launched DC’S popular young adult line of graphic novels, has been terminated. Ditto for editor Mark Doyle, instrumental in creating Black Label, DC’S line of graphic novels for mature readers.
At DC Universe, most of the streamer's employees have been pinkslipped. DC Direct has been completely disbanded after 22 years of operation.
Though the size of the cuts was unexpected, that it was coming was not. There had been signs and portents.
When AT&T bought Warnermedia in 2018, speculation began immediately as to what areas the communications giant would downsize, trim or combine ‒ and DC Comics was first up on the rumor mill. Would it be sold? Would the intellectual property be leased to another publisher? Would it go completely digital?
None of that happened, but DC did do something dramatic and unexpected: In June it ended its contract with Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. and began distributing through two comic shops with large mail-order businesses. Inexplicable at the time, it seems likely now that this was the first step on the road to self-distribution.
And, of course, those other possibilities are still on the table. With a third of its staff gone, DC’S output and market share will inevitably contract.
Also, when Warnermedia launched HBO Max, the immediate assumption was that the company’s other streaming service, DC Universe, would be killed or merged. After all, HBO Max
had more general appeal than the fanoriented DC Universe, with its huge library of Dc-related comics, movies, TV shows and cartoons. The service also aired original TV shows, both live and animated, as well as a news show titled “DC Daily.”
But “DC Daily” was recently canceled. And according to comicbook. com, “DC Universe quietly ended its subscription package to users” in July. Meanwhile, DC Universe’s fare has been finding new homes elsewhere: “Stargirl” and “Swamp Thing” are available on The CW, and “Doom Patrol” and
“Harley Quinn” are migrating to HBO Max. That leaves only “Titans” and the animated “Young Justice,” and few will be surprised if they move as well.
Finally, there is DC Direct, home of Dc-related statues, action figures, T-shirts, collectibles, etc. Its demise wasn’t unexpected, according to The Hollywood Reporter, who said the move “was rumored when Warner Bros. Consumer Products began taking a more active role in DC merchandising.”
The online reaction was immediate and mournful.
“So sad,” tweeted legendary writer Neil Gaiman. “I started working with @ Dccomics 33 years ago. Seeing so many staff fired hurts.”
“No one works in comics who doesn’t do it for love of comics,” tweeted “Batman”
and “Justice League” writer Scott Snyder. “Only compassion and love for friends and creative partners at DC tonight. Hoping everyone sees far better days in far better years.”
Another popular opinion was fingering AT&T as the villain. Veteran writer Gerry Conway tweeted: “What happened at @Dccomics ... was probably inevitable once @Warnermedia became a subsidiary of a tech company uninterested in creating new creative content, and planning only to strip mine existing IP for streaming.”
But DC isn’t the only publisher to suffer sudden contractions. A host of publishers in the mid-1950s — staggered by the twin blows of the Comics Code and television — went out of business or dropped their comic book lines. And in 1995, Marvel Comics contracted sharply when a distribution scheme went awry and the company was facing bankruptcy.
But of all disasters that have befallen a comics company, this one might have the worst timing. Because on Saturday, the publisher is running a 24-hour online convention celebrating all things DC. Called “Fandome,” it is touted on DC’S website as a “first-of-its-kind, immersive global fan experience in nine languages, featuring exclusive reveals with our biggest stars across the DC Multiverse.”
That includes the likes of Brec Bassinger (“Stargirl”), Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman 1984”), Timothy Dalton (“Doom Patrol”), Dwayne Johnson (“Black Adam”), Val Kilmer (“Batman Forever”) and Margot Robbie (“Birds of Prey”).