As a kid (rural Alabama in the late 1960s/early 1970s).....I was fascinated with comic books. About 90-percent of my collection (into the hundreds) were DC comics.....9-percent were Marvel (I just didn't get in Ironman or Thor that much)....with 1-percent being Archie/Sad Sack/Secret Hearts 'crap'.
In an era of marginal science fiction....comics were the only real escape (in my mind).
About seven months ago....DC Comics decided that they needed a reboot on Superman. So they went to his 'son', who happens to be a climate activist/asylum supporter and dating a male reporter for the Daily Planet. This guy also liked women, so he was bisexual (at least the intent was to make you think this).
What happened to sales of the issue? It dropped like a rock (number 17 on the sales list for the month). They sold around 68,000 copies since July on that first introduction issue. Cost of an average monthly comic today? $4 roughly (more or less). So after you figure the book shop 'take'....the comic guys generally made around $200k for that one monthly issue (half of that is ink, paper, and shipping cost).
Total failure for the bisexual son of Superman who is a environmentalist? I won't say that.....just that they seem to have decided that a lesser audience is a better audience. Once you tell the story team that there are zero bonusses for the year and no pay advancements....about half of them will plan a review of their resume for future employment elsewhere.
How far will this trend go? In today's world, with comics running $4 each...a kid might be more picky about what they are going to pick up and read. The days where my mom would hand me $1, and I bought eight comics on a grocery trip (12 cents each in the 1960s) are long gone. No mom is going to hand $32 to a kid to buy eight comics, and that kid is going to be awful picky about what he's buying/reading. If he's not fighting aliens, Lex Luthor, or hunting down time-travel bandits....it's probably not worth reading.
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