A Thought Experiment: WCW and DC Comics
So, while writing the God of Comics twitter feed this week and the following Afterthought, I got to thinking. It was not a terribly good thought, but it was one that made a lot of sense. Time Warner’s favorite source of creative properties, DC Comics, has been having some issues lately. This isn’t the first time this has happened with an intellectual property under the care of Time Warner, and there are a number of parallels between this time and last.
The company in question no longer exists. It went from making massive profits one year to losing $80 million the next. The company I’m talking about is, of course, WCW – a wrestling company that was once the cornerstone of Turner Broadcasting.
Now, there’s a lot of surface similarities between comics and wrestling. Both feature larger than life personalities engaged in morality plays revolving around long running narratives. Good versus evil is writ large, and though there are alliances and relationships every conflict must end in a fight of some kind. Characters go good or bad depending upon the demands of story, and certain stories work better with some characters than with others.
Some characters even transcend the medium they come from, becoming cultural icons. DC Comics has their share of those, and so did WCW – Ric Flair, Batman, Hulk Hogan, Superman, the Four Horsemen, the Justice League of America.
You may have noticed that I used the past tense in relation to WCW. I did this because WCW is now dead and defunct, sold to Vince McMahon – the competition – for pennies on the dollar after years of mismanagement and a contemptuous disdain for the fans and themes of the medium involved.
We’re not here to discuss the similarities between the mediums. We’re here to discuss the parallels between what happened with WCW and what’s happening with DC Comics. Follow me on this; it’s a thought experiment. I’m going to talk about WCW in normal font, and DC Comics in italics. Everyone on board? Good. Let’s do this.
For years, WCW ran a close second to the forerunners of the industry, a company that chose flash over substance. By concentrating on the deep understanding of psychology possessed by wrestlers like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Sting, WCW created a large and loyal fanbase that appreciated their storytelling capabilities. They also created memorable villains ranging from the monstrous Vader to the intelligent Arn Anderson. In a successful attempt to further extend their marketability and depth of product, they branch into the worldwide market and promote critically acclaimed wrestlers from Europe, Japan and Mexico.
For years, DC Comics ran a close second to the forerunners of the industry, a company that chose flash over substance. By concentrating on the deep understanding of the heroism intrinsic to characters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, DC Comics created a large and loyal fanbase that appreciated their storytelling capabilities. They also created memorable villains ranging from the monstrous Darkseid to the intelligent Lex Luthor. In a successful attempt to further extend their marketability and depth of product, they branch into the worldwide market and promote critically acclaimed titles like Swamp Thing, Sandman and Hellblazer.
The focus of flash over substance eventually crippled their primary opponents, driving the WWE to near bankruptcy and allowing WCW to take the fore. Drawing on the deep pocket books of Time Warner, WCW revamped their product to make it of higher quality in terms of presentation. They concentrated on mature stories centering around the nWo, brought in greater amounts of talent like Rey Mysterio, jr, and Raven, and started creating new stars, like Goldberg and Chris Jericho, while making their homegrown talent, people like Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page, more important. A balance exists between the creative minds of the talent, the writers behind the scenes, and the people running things. Everyone benefits.
The focus of big dumb event crossovers over stories with substance eventually crippled their primary opponents, driving Marvel Comics to near bankruptcy and allowing DC Comics to take the fore. Drawing on the deep pocket books of Time Warner, DC Comics revamped their product to make it of higher quality in terms of presentation. They concentrated on mature stories centering around the Justice League of America, brought in greater amounts of writing and artistic talent like Warren Ellis and Alex Ross, and started creating new characters, like Oracle and Azrael, while making their older ones, like Huntress and Green Arrow, more important. A balance exists between the creative minds of the talent, the writers behind the scenes, and the people running things. Everyone benefits.
In the chaos of success, the people in charge of WCW lost track of the stories they were telling. The biggest show of the year was Starccade, and for two years running it featured a screwy finish in the main event that drew out tired stories rather than completing them or moving them forwards. Wrestlers the fans were invested in, like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, were shuffled off in favor of friends of management that no one else cared about, like David Arquette and Dennis Rodman. The fans complained and were ignored.
In the chaos of success, the people in charge of DC Comics lost track of the stories they were telling. The biggest comics of the year comics of the year featured screwy plot devices that readers knew could not hold, like the mass killings in Blackest Night, robbing the stories of drama. Characters the fans were invested in, like Steph Brown and Cass Cain, suffered character assassination and then were written out of continuity because management didn’t like them, in favor of rewriting characters like Deathstroke or Black Mask in ways that had nothing to do what made them interesting in the first place. The fans complained and were ignored.
The people in charge of WCW seem more interested in past successes, like the eighty-four week ratings winning streak, than in anything happening in the present. Multiple changes in management muddle stories and characters, with a few bright spots like Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Sting remaining. The people in charge try to get involved with those bright spots, eventually ruining them and driving the people involved away. The fans complain and are ignored.
The people in charge of DC Comics seem more interested in past successes, like stories that ended more than twenty years ago, than in anything happening in the present. A massive company-wide reboot muddled stories and characters further, infuriating fans, with only a few bright spots like Batwoman, Aquaman, and Demon Knights to show for the change. The people in charge try to get involved with those bright spots, eventually ruining them and driving the people involved away. The fans complain and are ignored.
Once a ratings draw with a reliable fanbase, WCW began to lose watchers in droves as the talent that made it worth the investment left. Management blamed the fans for not understanding their genius while refusing to listen to them, returning to the same played out talents and nonsense stories of yesteryear, while the people that had made WCW interesting went to work for the competition. The suits at Time Warner decided to cancel the timeslots WCW occupied, given the sinkhole the company had become, effectively killing WCW. Vince McMahon made a laughable offer that was accepted and thus bought the company, turning around and using the video archives to make himself another fortune.
Once a respectable company with a reliable fanbase, DC Comics began to lose readers in droves as the talent that made their comics worth reading left. Management blamed the fans for not understanding their genius while refusing to listen to them, returning to the same played out reboots and grimdark stories, while the people that had made DC Comics interesting went to work anywhere else.
That’s where we find ourselves right now. The last two sentences haven’t happened yet, but given the track record of the editors at DC Comics and the suits at Time Warner, it’s only a matter of time before DC Comics is, effectively, cancelled given the sinkhole the company is becoming. Someone with more respect for the characters and stories will hopefully step in and turn the company around.
Gods know, if they can do it they’ll make themselves a fortune.