Articles

The DC Comics New Reader Litmus Test: The New 52
and
The DC Comics New Reader Litmus Test: Week 2
by Josie Campbell (from Comic Book Resources)

The whole point of The New 52 was to offer up a slate of #1 issues to attract new/lapsed readers to/back to the DCU. So what better way to test that than by showing all the issues to new readers, unfamiliar with comics. And what it shows is... a bit of a failure. One of the things DC was keen not to do was tell origin stories, feeling too often a re-launch meant telling the origin yet again. This survey seems to suggest they were right for well-known characters like Batman and Superman, but for all the rest (who are largely or completely unknown in popular culture), the move hasn't worked, with several newbies expressing that an origin would be better. DC's existing-reader-friendly idea of a "soft reboot" may work for current fans, but it's going to turn off newbies.

Still, in some respects one might argue this sample was flawed: it sounds like it picked on people who weren't necessarily interested in reading comics. (The second week improved the methodology, mind.) Now, that may not be true, but the people who are actually going to walk into a store and purchase these -- or, rather, DC are hoping they can attract into a store to purchase these -- are people who have an interest in reading comics, even if they've never actually read one. Would they be more susceptible to the books' charms than this lot? Or would the lack of background on unfamiliar characters still turn them off?

Either way, DC's sales have been strong, and so long as that keeps up I'm sure they're happy.

And in other comics-y articles...

New 52 Pickup | Week 4 by Steve Sunu
(from Robot 6 at Comic Book Resources)
Finally, a book I'm definitely getting that Sunu loves! (See below for more.)

Review of Batman #1 by Doug Zawisza
(from Comic Book Resources)
Five stars (out of five). Definitely looking forward to getting this one, then.