The demise of DC Comics has been rumored ever since AT&T acquired Time Warner in 2018, and with the slew of layoffs last week, media outlets speculated that this was the first step toward an unthinkable consequence for the comic book industry: the death of DC Comics.
In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, acting Publisher and CCO Jim Lee assured fans that DC is not getting out of the business of comic books, but that the company “…will be reducing the size of the slate. But it’s about looking at everything and looking at the bottom 20 percent, 25 percent of the line that wasn’t breaking even or was losing money.”
Some of those titles include: Batgirl, Batman and The Outsiders, and Justice League Odyssey in October and Teen Titans, Young Justice, Suicide Squad, Hawkman, and John Constantine: Hellblazer in November. The Batman’s Grave and Metal Men also conclude in November, and it also appears that Aquaman will end with issue #65.
Lee said that this is all “…about more punch for the pound, so to speak, and increasing the margins of the books that we are doing. It was about aligning the books to the franchise brand content we’ve developed and making sure that every book we put out, we put out for a reason.”
Lee did discuss some upcoming projects such as the long-promised return of the Milestone Comics imprint and a Batman mini-series by John Ridley (whose The Other History of the DC Universe debuts on November 24), assuring fans that new comics will continue to be produced by the company.
DC Comics will also have two new interim editors-in-chiefs, Marie Javins and Michele Wells, who will lead the comics line into the foreseeable future. Former Editor-in-Chief Bob Harris was let go last week as part of the reorganization of Warner Media.
Stay tuned for Conskipper’s coverage of DC’s Fandome online convention on Saturday, August 22 and all the other comic book news that is fit to print!