Those of you poor, unfortunate souls who read DC's advance solicitations got some disturbing news this week about upcoming issues of Justice League: Generation Lost. I won't reveal the spoilers here, because there is nothing, NOTHING, I hate more than a good plot-twist ruined. However, I think this raises an important question: Do comic readers want spoilers?
DC editorial is market-driven. If DC is teasing major plot twists in their spoilers, it's because they think it increases sales. Clearly, the DC powers that be believe that stirring up fan emotion will result in more books sold. Is this true?
"Buzz" surrounding a controversial event will certainly increase sales, especially with casual comic book fans ("Death of Superman", Obama/Spider-Man, etc.). But is the strategy of revealing in advance the ending of the story in order to increase short-term sales self-defeating in the long run? For the average comic book buyer, is the journey more important than the destination? If I told you how the ending for all the plot-lines you are currently reading, would you keep buying the books?
DC apparently thinks that the answer is yes.
BoosterPowershot posted on Dec. 23, 2010 at 10:09 AM
Wow, I'm very thankful for this. I usually love to see the solicits when they emerge, mainly for the covers, but I have noticed that sometimes the solicits ruin a key plot moment in the series. As much as it pains me to not look at the covers, I'll hold off for now.
Superman posted on Dec. 23, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Too late for me. I saw that solicit on Tuesday and I completely freaked. Ugh!
Erin posted on Dec. 23, 2010 at 2:01 PM
I still find the spoilers in question hard to believe given how much it goes against the direction DC is pushing. But I've noticed that JLGL in particular has been spoiling their own story by revealing too much. Many of us guessed the Magog one but they outright said who lived in the solicits before the issue came out.
Boosterrific [Official Comment] posted on Dec. 23, 2010 at 4:27 PM
There's nothing new about DC's approach to spoilers. DC's been doing it for years and years. It's why I stopped reading PREVIEWS nearly a decade ago. If I miss a book here and there, so be it. DC doesn't care about me, a single buyer, so I don't care to buy the books that they spoil for me.
I've been reading comics long enough to know that every "shocking" story gets undone eventually. Barry Allen and Jason Todd are alive. Comic book heroics are all about maintaining the status quo, so why should I ever get bent out of shape about a temporary change to a marketable asset? That's why I hate spoilers so much: eventually it's all going to be undone anyway, so why spoil the story in a rush to reveal the ephemeral ending?
I'll buy the book in question because I was going to buy it anyway. I'm really enjoying the series, but this sort of thing really sours my enjoyment of it. There's not much reason for me to give so much of my limited income to a comic book company that makes a practice of diminishing my satisfaction of their increasingly expensive product.
Morgenstern posted on Dec. 24, 2010 at 2:28 PM
DC does what it consideres to be the best way of making a profit by selling comics...and should not the Fans of Booster Gold be among those with at least some understanding for questionable actions targeted at making money?
Though regarding the spoiler the question, if true (what I doubt), I do have to add the following to DC: Leckt mich
Boosterrific [Official Comment] posted on Dec. 24, 2010 at 8:37 PM
Heh. I appreciate the irony, Morgenstern. My point is not to disparage the free market. My point is that I am confident that DC's strategy of damaging the potential of maintaining an amenable by revealing story spoilers is sabotaging long term sales. Either DC is only thinking short term, or they believe that acts like this spoiler don't harm long-term sales. Certainly, they could have teased the event without giving away the spoiler info, as demonstrated by the company's very successful approach to COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS. It was well teased without giving the secret away, and it sold very, very well (nearly a quarter of a million copies, a sum almost unheard of in today's market).
Kevin posted on Dec. 27, 2010 at 11:38 PM
Personally, I don't buy it. Considering alone how many times Max has made people see things, plus considering...well, there is no way to say this without spoiling it, so SPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
considering the scarab already has brought Jaime back to life once...
SPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
This will all turn out to be a plot twist.
More important is who is the former JLI member joining the team with Batman and Power Girl...personally...considering everything that has happened...I have tiny hopes it is Ted, finally back.
Boosterrific [Official Comment] posted on Dec. 28, 2010 at 12:36 AM
Gee whiz, Kevin. If you're going to spill the beans, at least have the decency to warn people that it is a spoiler.
tiggerpete posted on Dec. 28, 2010 at 1:49 AM
I have avoided the spoiler until now and I am not reading the post that says spoiler 50 times, that said, I only read reactionary articles about what has happened and avoid previews and spoilers until I can read something for myself, its not hard if you know what to avoid, and I know what titles are coming out which week due to an app on my Droid, so I don't need the previews book
