(Note: These are directed at the Big Two, since the freedom of the independents depends on the health of Marvel and DC.)
Streamline. I hate to say it, but you need to focus on the characters normies know until you can right the ship. Whittle down your books to the most familiar and/or the top sellers. Then focus on increasing the quality of those anchor books to rebuild trust -- and therefore enable later experimentation. (Characters with movies shouldn't have anemic sales numbers! If they do, you need to switch out the team on the book until you find creators who can connect with the audience.)
Stop the gimmicks. I know folks are going to be tempted to hit us with crazy events to drum up interest, but honestly, I really think Marvel and DC need to resist that temptation. Event fatigue is effing real, y'all. While I was reading all the Bronze Age Iron Man comics, it was so nice that I didn't have to track down a billion event books to absorb everything. On the other hand, volume 4 eventually became a chore because I couldn't just read Iron Man without also reading Civil War, World War Hulk, and Secret Invasion. My plea? Stop. Just stop. Let people focus on one character if they want to. Stop trying to manipulate them into buying everything!
And speaking of gimmicks: we don't need loads of variant covers either. If you simply must have variants, just one or two will suffice.
Impose stricter editorial control. Right now, everyone seems to be doing whatever the eff they want to; they're not all moving in the same direction. On the other hand, back in the Bronze Age, whatever was going on in the Avengers book rarely contradicted what was happening in Tony's own book -- and if there was a contradiction, it was adequately explained. Editorial needs to keep track of what's happening across the Marvel and DC universes and ensure everyone is on the same page!
Make it easier for noobs to jump in. When I was an Iron Man noob, I just started at the beginning and read everything. That may not be financially feasible for every reader, though, so also make sure new peeps can still follow your story without getting utterly lost. Remember Stan Lee's rule: every comic is someone's first comic.
Hire people with talent who are excited about the character they've been assigned. Anyone on Iron Man, for example, should know Iron Man canon backwards and forwards -- and should genuinely love Tony Stark the way I do! (Okay, maybe not quite as over-the-top as that, but you get what I mean.) Similarly, Captain America should be written by someone who respects the country he's supposed to represent. I'm tired of the deconstructions -- and so are other readers.
And finally: ruthlessly enforce standards of professional conduct. Anyone who attacks the fans should be immediately frog-marched out the door. Declare the era of calling fans Nazi -ists and -phobes officially over and accept, once and for all, that an established IP is not one particular creator's property to destroy. If you find sticking to Tony Stark's personality and history as established in the Silver and Bronze Ages too constricting, then do something else. Tony Stark is not your personal plaything; he is something much larger!
Is there anything else I need to add?
Stop the gimmicks. I know folks are going to be tempted to hit us with crazy events to drum up interest, but honestly, I really think Marvel and DC need to resist that temptation. Event fatigue is effing real, y'all. While I was reading all the Bronze Age Iron Man comics, it was so nice that I didn't have to track down a billion event books to absorb everything. On the other hand, volume 4 eventually became a chore because I couldn't just read Iron Man without also reading Civil War, World War Hulk, and Secret Invasion. My plea? Stop. Just stop. Let people focus on one character if they want to. Stop trying to manipulate them into buying everything!
And speaking of gimmicks: we don't need loads of variant covers either. If you simply must have variants, just one or two will suffice.
Impose stricter editorial control. Right now, everyone seems to be doing whatever the eff they want to; they're not all moving in the same direction. On the other hand, back in the Bronze Age, whatever was going on in the Avengers book rarely contradicted what was happening in Tony's own book -- and if there was a contradiction, it was adequately explained. Editorial needs to keep track of what's happening across the Marvel and DC universes and ensure everyone is on the same page!
Make it easier for noobs to jump in. When I was an Iron Man noob, I just started at the beginning and read everything. That may not be financially feasible for every reader, though, so also make sure new peeps can still follow your story without getting utterly lost. Remember Stan Lee's rule: every comic is someone's first comic.
Hire people with talent who are excited about the character they've been assigned. Anyone on Iron Man, for example, should know Iron Man canon backwards and forwards -- and should genuinely love Tony Stark the way I do! (Okay, maybe not quite as over-the-top as that, but you get what I mean.) Similarly, Captain America should be written by someone who respects the country he's supposed to represent. I'm tired of the deconstructions -- and so are other readers.
And finally: ruthlessly enforce standards of professional conduct. Anyone who attacks the fans should be immediately frog-marched out the door. Declare the era of calling fans Nazi -ists and -phobes officially over and accept, once and for all, that an established IP is not one particular creator's property to destroy. If you find sticking to Tony Stark's personality and history as established in the Silver and Bronze Ages too constricting, then do something else. Tony Stark is not your personal plaything; he is something much larger!
Is there anything else I need to add?
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