r/DCcomics • u/Blitzhelios Hal Jordan • May 28 '26
Comics DC Comics is being targeted by a new boycott campaign over Black-led superhero books
https://www.thepopverse.com/comics-dc-comics-boycott-blackout-dcsowhite-announcement811
u/Comfortable-Pie56 May 28 '26
I'm not sure excluding Absolute Green Lantern from their list of "black-led DC ongoings" is helping their argument much, given the Absolute line sells considerably more than the mainline.
And, honestly, people need to buy series starring black characters if they want DC to publish more. DC has tried with Cyborg, John Stewart, Mr. Terrific, Steelworks and Black Lightning in recent years. The Cyborg and War Journal ones were solid IMO but presumably none of them sold very well.
"But they were minis!". Sure, and so were Poison Ivy or Zatanna at first. They got more by their fans buying them.
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u/cambries Wonder Woman May 28 '26
I’m glad you mentioned Zatanna. Zatanna whilst not a black character is currently being written and drawn by Jamal Campbell something that should be praised and supported. The creator of this campaign who is supposedly a big “supporter of black comic creators” always skirts around this creator and series.
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u/SOY_CD Zatanna May 28 '26
Yeah, he was also the artist for Far Sector, the comic that introduced Jo Mullein to DC. In addition, Campbell has introduced several black characters to Zatanna's supporting cast-- with the most notable being her new foil/antagonist for the current arc, Detective Di Manes (who is awesome BTW).
Sidenote: His Zatanna series (both of them) are phenomenal. The first issue of last year's mini is free on DC Universe Infinite; check it out if you haven't already and like whimsy. The same series is also now officially Eisner-nominated, so I'm not saying this just because I'm a fan.
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u/Aloofairy May 29 '26
Don't forget Naomi. I don't know the general sentiment but I thought it was really good. The first one more so.
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u/chroniclescylinders May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
I'm reminded of an interview by Christopher Priest I read, where he talked about finding it frustrating when he was put into a box of "black writer" and expected to only write black-led stories. I'm just going to post the relevant part here, because I think it's an interesting angle.
CBR News: Priest, this is an obvious place to start, but as a longtime fan of your work, I'm personally curious -- we haven't seen much comics work from you in the past 11 years. What was it about this opportunity, writing "Deathstroke" in particular, that lured you back into the game?
Christopher Priest: He wasn't Black. [Laughs] That's pretty much it.
Every 18 months or so, I would get a call from Marvel or DC or some independent publisher, and they'd go, "Hey, we've got this great book coming up and we want you to write it." Invariably, it would be a character of color -- usually an African-American character. There were a lot of reasons why I just kind of dropped out of comics eight or nine years ago, but part of the reason was, I started in this business as a writer. Writing Spider-Man, "Power Man and Iron Fist" [at Marvel]. At DC, I was doing "The Ray," "Action Comics," "Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn," things like that. Somehow, over time, I stopped being a writer and became a "Black writer." I'm not really sure exactly how that happened. It's not that I was unwilling to work in the industry or that I quit or retired or anything like that. It's just, this is what I was being offered -- I was being offered exclusively Black characters.
I kind of let it be known, politely, I'd love to be working in the business again, that would be great, but I want to be taken seriously as a writer, not just as a "Black writer." We'd have these discussions about every 18 months. A company would pitch me an idea, and I'd go, "Well, I'm not really interested in that. How about Martian Manhunter? I've got this great Martian Manhunter idea." Then they'd go, "Well, we've already got somebody working on Martian Manhunter." We'd go back and forth, and then we'd go, "Well, thanks for the call, I'll see you in 18 months." That's kind of what's been going on.
Marie Javins, the group editor, called and said "Deathstroke" to me, and it stopped me in the tracks for a minute. It took me a minute to remember who he was. [Laughs] And then I asked: "He's that guy from 'Teen Titans,' the guy with the sword, right?" "Yeah, that's him." "OK, alright. Is he Black?" She said no. I said, "OK, keep talking." Frankly, the idea intrigued me to write a villain. I really hadn't written a villain as the major protagonist of a series before. I thought this could be an interesting challenge for me. I gave it some thought, and I called her back: "If I can write it this way -- in a character-driven, introspective way, and get inside the character and examine him kind of the way we did 'Black Panther' -- that would be a really interesting challenge. If it's just going to be him running around killing people, that's a little less appealing."
Personally, I think it's a problem if we don't have any diversity in the line-up of heroes, but it's also unfair to expect black creators to always write for black characters, and diversity initiatives should have space for black creators like Jamal Campbell, who is clearly working on a passion project, the star just doesn't happen to be the same race or gender as him.
(also, please let Priest write Martian Manhunter??? I'd love to see that.)
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u/Phoenix_Rider2 Jun 02 '26
Marie Javins being mentioned by Priest as the one offering him Deathstroke just makes me laugh cause its feels like, given her success as EIC this is the best kind of foreshadowing
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u/wrasslefights Nightwing May 28 '26
Honestly, I find the lack of focus on Black creators weird because DC has kept a slim line for solo titles generally, but they had a LOT of Black writers a few years back and right now I think it's just Campbell and Morgan Hampton on GLC, unless I'm missing someone.
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u/spencerthepoet May 29 '26
I read the first few issues of that run and absolutely loved the art! I'm glad their run is continuing.
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u/ptWolv022 May 29 '26
The Cyborg and War Journal ones were solid IMO but presumably none of them sold very well.
Green Lantern: War Journal actually sold fine, but PKJ was the writer and he was only willing to do 12 issues because of other obligations, so the book ended when he left.
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u/NONAMEDREDDITER Absolute Wonder Woman May 29 '26
Mr Terrific year one also sold well enough too, but because it was explicitly a y1 mini, they ended it without extensions
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u/ITCrandomperson Nightwing May 29 '26
Static fans seem to just vanish into thin air whenever he has a book.
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u/GreatGoogly-Moogly Black Lantern May 28 '26
The "DC just releases black stories as minis!" is the dumbest argument against them. Like you said DC has shown time and time again that if a mini sells they'll continue it. Hell, Poison Ivy sold well enough that DC let GWW just do whatever she wanted with the character for ~3 years independent of whatever shit was going on with the Bat-family at the time.
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u/Late_Stage_Exception May 28 '26
This is my biggest gripe with movements like this. Telling people to not spend money on a property shows said property that the demo in question doesn’t buy their books so they invest less in them. If you want to impact change…tell your members/listeners/follower/what have you to actually ONLY BUY the black led books. Those see huge jumps in sales and guess what? DC will make them ongoing and a focus.
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u/Smoothw May 28 '26
Activism can do a lot of things but I think the social media age has shown that if there are people online that are vocal about wanting a particular type of comic made doesn't mean that people in the real world will actually buy it
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u/ptWolv022 May 29 '26
Telling people to not spend money on a property shows said property that the demo in question doesn’t buy their books so they invest less in them.
It depends. If the demographic is buying comics and then stops, with a big enough drop in sales that it can be attributed to a vocally announced boycott, then DC would be able to see the effect of it and realize that they need a Black-led ongoing to reverse the drop (and, presumably, make money off of the people buying the ongoing).
This, of course, assumes that a significant enough segment of real comic buyers engage in the boycott. If the people who would engage in the boycott already aren't buying DC's books, the boycott won't make a dent.
However, your suggestion of telling people to also go and buy Black-led or Black-created books would be a good way to augment it.
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u/ThisOldBlerd May 29 '26
That’s actually what they did with the Dakota Incident 1-shot a couple of months ago. It got a reprint and Static is slated to join the Teen Titans (as a result).?.?
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u/CaptainHalloween May 30 '26
Yeah but pointing that out and the positive consequences of it doesn't fit the boycott narrative.
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u/Schwenkelkamp May 29 '26
Hand to your chest and no lie
Do you think the people in this movement ever bought any comics to begin with?
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u/RobertPham149 May 29 '26
At this point, I am convinced that movement like these are part of astroturfing campaign coming from conservative-right movement and Russian propaganda to stoke the fire for culture war BS.
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u/VoodooLoveDr Swamp Thing May 29 '26
Honest question,
Is there data on who buys comics by race? (Not that people should like characters based on race) but basic market factors could be a simple answer if black people don’t read comics as much as other races
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u/CaptainHalloween May 28 '26
This isn't about anything but getting some influencers some attention.
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u/DarthKuchiKopi Absolute Martian Manhunter May 28 '26
I make sure to add storm and black panther pulls to the list to keep the mythos alive
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u/birbdaughter Inza Nelson Stan May 28 '26
The Milestone special sold so well it got a second printing. Meanwhile DC has announced books for Jonah Hex and Deadman. Tom King is still on Wonder Woman when iirc WW isn’t even top 50 anymore. Selling well is not an argument at this point. Milestone showed they sell well, and All In shows DC is taking chances with books that very likely wouldn’t sell.
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u/Weak_Ball_5045 May 28 '26
Big fan of the milestone books especially Icon. He just looks so cool.
Refreshing to hear some different voices and some different stories too.
Before the latest shake up at DC they implied the government had interfered with the meta human community on Earth M. Icon expressed his displeasure at the government's killing of the last Kyptonian as a child.
That would have been a really intriguing storyline; Icon and the other Dakota heroes uncovering what had been done to the other metas. Maybe a bit like Planetary.
Blood Syndicate in the 90s was a great team book.
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u/ptWolv022 May 29 '26
The Milestone special sold so well it got a second printing.
I still contend that we don't know exactly how much that means, as we have no idea what the print run for it was in the first place.
Meanwhile DC has announced books for Jonah Hex and Deadman. [...] Milestone showed they sell well, and All In shows DC is taking chances with books that very likely wouldn’t sell.
More to the point: the Jonah Hex book was announced in Oct. 2025, months before The Dakota Incident released and The Deadman was announced a week before TDI released (with its first issue set to release 3.5 months later). The timeline just doesn't match up to use those as examples, because they were greenlit before TDI... was a success in the first place.
An argument can be made that DC has ignored the potential of Milestone properties, but pointing to The Deadman and Jonah Hex vs. The Dakota Incident... isn't it. Time is linear and there's no way around that in terms of making The Deadman and Jonah Hex proof of DC ignoring TDI's success.
Tom King is still on Wonder Woman when iirc WW isn’t even top 50 anymore.
Also, this argument only works if WW was in the Top 50 before Tom King. I looked back through IcV2's Top 50 Comics lists from Apr. 2021 (when they switched from Top 20 to Top 50) to Aug. 2023 (when Knight Terrors: Wonder Woman #2 released, in-between Wonder Woman #800 and the start of Tom King's run with Wonder Woman #1) and the only time Wonder Woman books were in the Top 50 were:
Oct. 2021 (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1)
Dec. 2021 (Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #1)
Apr. 2022 (Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #1)
Jun. 2023 (Wonder Woman #800)
Jul. 2023 (Knight Terrors: Wonder Woman #1)
Those 5 months are the only ones IcV2 has with WW in the Top 50 before Tom King's run: an 80th Anniversary one-shot, 2 issues of a prestige Black Label mini-series, an 800th Issue oversized special, and the first half of an event tie-in mini.
After King's run started, all of Wonder Woman #1-18 (Sept. 2023-Feb. 2025) made the Top 50, followed by Issue #20 in Apr. 2025. Issue #23 in Jul. 2025 was 50th by dollar value (rather than # of copies sold directly; meaning some $3.99 comics sold more copies, but few enough that its $4.99 price tag beat them in total dollars). Finally, Wonder Woman #32 reached 46th in dollar sales in Apr. 2026 (IcV2 notes that they began using different (more?) data than before; what effect this has is unclear).
Why did I go through all of this? ...mostly my own curiosity. Regardless of that, the data (or at least IcV2's data) doesn't point towards the conclusion that Tom King's run is selling badly, at least compared to recent years. It shows that it's selling worse than the start of the run, but that's not unexpected. His sales might be in line with where Wonder Woman #771-799 (the issues dating back to Apr. 2021; Jun-Aug. 2021 double-shipped), but it might also be above them but below the Top 50 (which seems possible due to #20, #23, and #32 reaching the Top 50 by Dollars while the pre-King issues did not).
(IcV2's rankings are also ordinal, relative to other issues that month, rather than absolute values being reported; so if the bottom 10 all start selling less, they can still be in the Top 50 if they still sold better than #51-60. On the flipside, #41-50 could all sell better than before, but still get knocked out of the Top 50 if, say, DC started releasing 6 "absolutely" successful comics and Image Comics started doing something crazy like having a shard GI Joe/Transformers universe that kept breaking into the Top 50 due to their own high sales... But that's hard to account for when all we have is the rankings.)
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u/birbdaughter Inza Nelson Stan May 29 '26
The timeline just doesn't match up to use those as examples, because they were greenlit before TDI... was a success in the first place.
This misses the point. My point is DC has no real reason to think those comics will do well, just as they had no reason to think Metamorpho would do well when they greenlit that. They launched it as an ongoing then it flopped so hard it got cancelled at 6 issues. Yet no one was going "Metamorpho needs to prove he works first and can sell" when that comic got announced.
Milestone, Terrific, and Vixen have insanely more potential than Metamorpho (and imo more potential than Firestorm who also has an ongoing right now, or Legion which is supposed to get a book) -- especially Terrific given he was just in a highly successful movie! You've even got a writer already wanting to write Vixen. They're more likely to succeed than Metamorpho, yet they don't get the chance to prove themselves. So why do we harp on sales when it's a Black-led book but when it's white characters no one cares and is willing to give the comic a chance to prove itself? Why must Black characters be in top 50 to be successful when majority of DC mainline books aren't?
There was no Firestorm mini or special to prove he could sell in the current market, yet Milestone needs a special to prove themselves? And even though it has been proven, it's still not enough?
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u/Born-Ad4658 May 29 '26
Comic sales dont even mean anything anymore
You gotta go to a local LCS and get a pull list for it to count
most people arent doing that
shitbisba fucking scam man
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u/abdullaahr7 May 28 '26
The problem is that even miniseries starring PoC characters are few and far between. Take the announced DC Next Level books, there are none with PoC leads
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u/Reid666 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
There was massive push from DC around 2019-2023 for better diversity and representation. In this era astonishingly high number of new heroes have been introduced. Basically entire Bendis time at DC was about diversity.
In the end, most of those characters have been forgotten. Majority of them and their series were terrible.
Why? I believe it is very difficult the create new character that would become popular. At the same time it is even harder to write a good series for that new character.
Let's be honest most of the DC comics are mediocre when taken out of context. But mediocre comic can be commercially caried by well known character or nostalgia factor. Unfortunately brand new title do not have such lifeline.
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u/AnonymousCoward261 May 28 '26
A big thing is they’re running off a bunch of characters they got the rights to back in the thirties when nobody took comics seriously and guys like Bill Finger, Jerry Siegel, and Joe Shuster were willing to sign their rights away.
You’d have to have people willing to create new characters and surrender control of them to DC (or Marvel).
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u/Jay_R_Kay Batman May 28 '26
Hell, the period that had the most minority lead books was arguably the start of the New 52: Batwing, Static Shock, Mr Terrific, The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men, Green Lantern Corps, and that's just the books with black leads (or co-lead with Firestorm and GLC). There was also Blue Beetle, OMAC, and Voodoo.
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u/Darkdragoon324 May 29 '26
Batwing and Voodoo were like, part the very few titles I actually liked from the New 52. So of course they ended up cancelled lol. Almost none of the ones I found interesting lasted the year. I think that’s part of what turned me off reading DC comics for a long time, in addition to REALLY disliking the direction they took Wonder Woman.
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u/CaptainHalloween May 30 '26
Hell I only just found out that apparently Fury of Firestorm was supposed to be a mini but the team had gotten word the sales were so good they got three more issues. It feels like that's how DC is playing things now. Guarantee people six issues at least and if they sales are there, you get another three and then more.
I think the same happened to Absolute Martian Manhunter. Began as a six issue, turned into a twelve issue.
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u/Jonn_Jonzz_Manhunter May 28 '26
I'm fucking CERTAIN the next big phase for DC is going to be milestone after that Phenomenal Secret History issue
They've been saying all year that the big books has created the opportunity for smaller books like Batwoman and Deathstroke to get the spotlight and I'm seeing the same happening for Milestone because frankly, we're hungry for it again
I'd write the fuck out of Icon if they let me!
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u/Blitzhelios Hal Jordan May 28 '26
I mean i wouldn't call batwoman a character who has had multiple ongoings and led detective through one of its most popular eras and has appeared in tv shows and animated movies small.
Same with Deathstroke slade has had ongoings since they decided he wasn't just a titans villain.
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u/Jaytheory May 28 '26
Give us a Vixen mini or ongoing and I'll buy it! DC does some stuff (Abs GL, Abs Cat, GL Corps) but could do more for sure.
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u/De4dm4nw4lkin May 28 '26
Honestly im more for fresh longrun series than minis. Would love an A-vixen to crop up with green arrow.
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u/Redwolf97ff May 28 '26
This is reddit bait. But I’ll bite. Yes more representation. But also, give Al Ewing at least some acknowledgement here
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u/TubbyTuesday22 May 28 '26
And at least acknowledge that DC has several black creators working for them—Jamal Campbell, Denys Cowan, Stephanie Williams, Clayton Henry, Che Grayson, Morgan Hampton… representation could always be better, definitely, but ignoring the obvious representation that already exists both within the comics and behind the comics is a great way to lose credibility with an argument like this.
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u/koalee Wonder Woman May 28 '26
I don’t think the movement is ignoring them. They dropped a video today to mark the start of the boycott in which they do recognize these creatives.
They also specifically say that this isn’t rooted in hostility against creators, fans, or the universe, but is frustration at the pattern of underinvestment in black characters. Nothing about the indicates discounting of black creatives to me.
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u/Pale_Emu_9249 May 29 '26
Black Lives Matter is a movement. Mr. Portis' complaints aren't a pimple on Jim Lee's ass.
He offers no realistic solutions. Publishing more black character led comics isn't a solution. Any publishing initiative has to be profitable.
Not even the rising Bat-tide could lift The Next Batman and I Am Batman boats.
Green Arrow written by Chris Condon was a fabulous series. It didn't sell and got cancelled. Should white comics readers boycott DC?
If DC wasn't hiring black creators and Mr. Portis was calling for a boycott on those grounds, I'd be 100% behind it.
As I see it, he's trying to grift his way to more followers for his social media efforts.
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u/Redwolf97ff May 29 '26
Absolute green lantern was mentioned only to hand wave it away. Al Ewing’s name was not mentioned. It’s one thing to offer constructive criticism, but when the real and genuine gestures that are already present are hand waved away, it calls into question the motivations of the organizer
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u/NoirPochette Legion Of Super-Heroes May 29 '26
The thing is that if you disregard the Absolute Line, which has the potential to have many more opportunities for black, Hispanic, and Asian characters, it kind of is disingenuous.
I'm a POC, and I bought a lot of black or Asian-led comics. There are opportunities, but people need to buy them, and it's hard because people can have a racial bias or are just not interested in a character that isn't Batman or Superman.
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u/Killsocket1 May 28 '26
I am new to comics after 20 some years where the Absolute line got me back. Since I only see names on the cover, are there a lot of, for the lack of better words, non-white or even African American writers/artists/colorists in the industry? If there are, please let me know....
I mean, I know it is just one, but Absolute Green Lantern I plan to keep supporting, but it's because of the story, not the color of a character.
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u/adeliepingu May 28 '26
jamal campbell is black and writing/drawing the current zatanna ongoing, following an excellent zatanna mini last year. highly recommend checking it out!
there are a good number of non-white creatives working in the industry in general, e.g. absolute green arrow is being written by a thai author, absolute catwoman is being written by a black woman. artists and colorists are also quite international from what i've seen.
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u/Brit-Crit May 28 '26
The Indian Ram V is another notable international author (even if he lives on the outskirts of London…)
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u/koalee Wonder Woman May 28 '26
Welcome back to the scene! There's quite a few! Two of my favorite authors are Ram V (Indian and often brings other indians onto projects to work with him) and Gene Luen Yang (Chinese Industry Veteran of about 20 years who helped carve a path for a lot of Asian Americans to follow via First Second Books onto the big two and back).
With regards to black comic creators I'm pretty fond of Stephanie Williams (has done a lot, currently filling in on WW and writing the WW webtoon, just became the first black woman nominated for the best writer Eisner), Vita Ayala (very solid output at Marvel and DC, currently working on adapting a novel to graphic novel format), Ngozi Ukazu (She tends to work on graphic novels and did some out of continuity stuff for DC), Juni Ba (Senegalese cartoonist, recently did an out of continuity book for DC about Robin), and David F. Walker (Eisnner Award Winning writer that does a mix of history, superheroes, and indie).
Most of these people I can really only speak for their DC work but I HEAVILY HEAVILY suggest looking into Ram V, Gene Luen Yang, Ngozi Ukazu's indpendent work.
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u/karismatic- May 28 '26
I know it's not main continuity but I'm fiending for more of the Batman/Static Beyond universe after that limited series ended! I need more! I would buy a whole slew of spin offs of the Dakota crew from that comic!
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u/Artseid May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
I’m all for more representation but I also don’t feel this is the way to do it. I mean, I’ve been wanting a Vixen mainline book for years now to no avails, she’s like DC’s more prominent OC black female character and no push for her at all from DC leadership.
And I’m not just talking Black characters, I’d love to see other OC getting more spotlight.
I loved Xanthe and Sideways and even Silencer and supported the hell out of those books and when they were done? Gone. Background characters or completely absent.
Which tells me as a reader that DC is not going to push these characters after putting them out, so my support amounts to nothing. That’s not a great feeling.
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u/koalee Wonder Woman May 29 '26
I understand your frustration. I’ve repeatedly bought books that have ended up not making the cut. Sometimes voting with our wallet doesn’t seem to enough. But what do you feel the way to get better representation is then? If buying books and encouraging others to do so isn’t enough, how do we communicate the desire for diversity to dc?
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u/Artseid May 29 '26
That’s a great question. It really comes down to DC recognizing they have a known cultural IP on their hands and realizing they need to take it more seriously. They’ve tried lately. There’s a whole bunch of Milestone initiative books that DC has published recently, and they're mostly very good comic books.
For me, I want Milestone integrated into the main universe. I want Icon standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Superman. I want Static with the Titans, just like that recent announcement, alongside a strong solo series. But I also need good writing. Sometimes it feels like Black creatives forget this is fundamentally fantasy. Real-world issues are great drivers for stories, but sometimes it’s completely okay to just lean into the power fantasy instead of bringing so much heavy real-world baggage into the books.
At the end of the day, it really comes down to good writing. No amount of liking a character can save a book from bad writing, weak stakes, or rough dialogue. I started out really interested in that Batman/Static Beyond book, but I realized too late that the creative team just wasn't strong enough to deliver the kind of story I wanted. That goes for all writers regardless of race or gender.
To make a long point short, it’s not enough to just give us a Static solo book. It needs to be a great Static book.
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u/Little_Woodpecker_36 May 28 '26
On the one hand, this feels like a massive grift. Cause it is.
On the other hand, I feel DC should do more black characters and have more black creators on board, cause I like it. I actually think they’re doing better, and this list is just very arbitrary and dismissive, and people bringing up fans not buying Minis is very true. Course it doesn’t help all interest in the Power Company I had died the moment I saw Jace. Which is a shame, I liked the idea up until I saw him.
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u/Embarrassed_Piano_62 Swamp Thing May 28 '26
True. There's a lot of factors in this, to add to what you're saying:
- Power Company wasn't good, Jace Batman was exactly like Bruce's.
- This group literally helped The Dakota Incident became a success YET complain we don't get an ongoing.
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u/Little_Woodpecker_36 May 28 '26
Man I just hate Jace for so many reasons, because I read the book. It’s legit incredible to introduce your new character and his first act is to beat up BLM protestors to protect the cops. In his super powered armor suit.
Holy fuck.
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u/ArtsyTLF Red Robin May 28 '26
It's like the Flag Smashers in the MCU but with a literal direct real world equivalent. Ridley got away with making so much literal garbage at DC because he had Hollywood clout.
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u/Little_Woodpecker_36 May 28 '26
It’s always funny that I tend to see them as an anti immigration anti science group… but that’s mostly cause the Flag Smashers are SO undefined that they can be any political group you want, really.
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u/TheSadPhilosopher Blue Beetle May 28 '26
Not to mention how he destroyed my man T'Challa over at Marvel.
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u/Embarrassed_Piano_62 Swamp Thing May 28 '26
Holy crap I didn't know that.
I never bought the comic because I don't like the concept, there's isn't enough about him that makes the character unique.
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u/CodeFun1735 May 28 '26
Who the fuck approved that?!
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May 28 '26
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u/TheSadPhilosopher Blue Beetle May 28 '26
If you're a Marvel fan, how he did T'Challa was honestly worse, so fucking awful, had me mad as shit 😭😭.
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u/NONAMEDREDDITER Absolute Wonder Woman May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
Plus next level lasts through 2027 and things also take time to happen
They likely always planned for static to join the titans but were waiting to see of there was enough support to justify a milestone/dakota based ongoing
Also people need to understand most of the next level stuff releasing this year has been planned for at least a year now, so if anuthing we should be hearing stuff about characters like static or icon at sdcc if they’re to get solos
The sole exception for next level is Jamal Campbell’s Zatanna and that’s literally just a continuation of his mini
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 May 28 '26
I don't understand. Jace Fox is not a good character but what that has to do with them not publishing black led stories
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u/Embarrassed_Piano_62 Swamp Thing May 28 '26
I was answering to the comment above, basically explaining why I didn't like The Power Company. The fact that Jace was badly written was part of the issue. So it's not because of the character specifically (even tho I don't like the concept)
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u/Little_Woodpecker_36 May 28 '26
Nothing, just that when they came out with Power Company, a book that was to be a black lead team, I just refused to get it when I saw Jace Fox on the cover. I just refuse to read any story with him, and prefer he be forgotten, hard.
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May 28 '26
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u/Recent-Layer-8670 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Of course, it doesn’t help that all interest in the Power Company I had died the moment I saw Jace. Which is a shame, I liked the idea up until I saw him.
For real. 😆
I'm not sure why they decided to promote the Power Company by emphasizing Jace so much in the one-shot. Apart from not being an appealing character, the idea of underutilizing the team in their own team book totally defeats the purpose of what people wanted to see.
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u/Little_Woodpecker_36 May 28 '26
But ya gotta understand, he’s Batman, he has to take over the book.
Ya know, if he was the lamest Batman in the entire universe.
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u/deanereaner May 28 '26
Can you explain the "grift?"
As I understand it that word means somebody is profiting from fraud.
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u/Little_Woodpecker_36 May 28 '26
It’s a online term where someone tries to seed rage or anger, justified or not (usually not) to make money or promote their product.
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u/deanereaner May 28 '26
So what's the "grift?" They're drawing attention to a legitimate issue or not?
(And please don't tell me that because one Absolute title has a black lead that their argument is invalid, I've heard that one.)
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u/Little_Woodpecker_36 May 28 '26
Well when one is trying to sell their own stuff, that’s part of it. But another major factor is that he is discounting various books and not proposing alternatives than his own stuff. Lots of independent black comic creators deserve love and the guy isn’t pointing to any.
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u/IJustType May 28 '26
How are they making money and what product are they promoting? I only see four demands of DC and the demands are just making more black books and actually supporting them.
Like what is the grift here specifically? Or is it speculation?
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u/Kapaya-Papaya May 28 '26
I hear about this a decent amount among people I follow on TikTok. I appreciate the sentiment but I’ve never quite gotten behind the “movement.” It’s quite an arbitrary thing. Why is a solo, in continuity, ongoing the measuring stick for representation?
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u/koalee Wonder Woman May 28 '26
I think these are fair questions! In a solo a writers is forced to focus on the internality of a character while building out a supporting cast and setting around them. This means focus is not pulled multiple directions and character development is fully focused on the main character. In Continuity/Mainline matters as then DC universe has been going since 1937 I believe. When things happen in the main universe it becomes part of a long running story that connects to other stories people like and allow people to influence future development in that universe. Ongoing matters because it signifies a desire to invest in that character beyond a single story like a miniseries might do, especially with how decompressed comics are now.
So to sum up, the three things they’re asking for would make it more likely for a black character to have a quality stories with internality that have a long lasting impact on the dc universe at large.
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u/McKnighty9 Red Hood May 28 '26
DC has tried in the past, but the books get cancelled because of sales. Not the race of the character. This Champaign should encourage readers to support black books, not ask for stuff that gonna get cancelled.
Also, excluding Absolute Green Lantern is just gonna get this cause mocked.
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u/Salt_Mix7933 May 28 '26
Dumb, not taking part on this, jo is having sucess as the main absolute gl, we got static on titans
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u/De4dm4nw4lkin May 28 '26
I cant beleive it took this comic for me to clock who from main cont A-GL is.
Didnt recognize her without the shades and the cut.
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u/SweaterGoats Barry & Wally May 29 '26
I went to a diversity panel at a con once where several Black DC writers and artists spoke. One writer mentioned (I forgot who) that DC would pigeon hole him to only write Black characters, when he really wanted to write Batman or Superman, too.
More Black-led books would be great, but maybe we should prioritize POC writers and artists no matter what book they are working on.
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u/cambries Wonder Woman May 28 '26
DC definitely needs to do better when it comes to representation but at the same time there are a lot of people using this as a chance to do performative activism.
There are going to be people who do genuinely stop pulling their books however i guarantee you many people will say “yeah, i stopped pulling” but definitely didn’t but will instead no longer post any content showing their new books.
You also have to ask the question - if demands are met.. what if these runs sell badly? what if the quality just isn’t good? who gets the blame?
I think there’s a lot of questions to be asked about this. I also think ignoring the success of Absolute Green Lantern is surprising when the Absolute titles are generally performing better than all mainline titles is a little bit disingenuous.
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u/topicality May 28 '26
I think superheroes are in a weird spot where they are so integral to the culture and have dominated movies for so long that people think comics are a massive industry.
Comics are still pretty niche and it was only a few years ago everyone was worried the comic line would go under for DC.
So "no mainline black superheroes currently" sounds like a big cultural failure until you start putting numbers in
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u/trans_throwawayfunk May 29 '26
Yeah, for example wasn't it just recently everybody was raving about how Manga was beating American comics and how comics "were dying" ?
Not saying all of that was or wasn't true, but it definitely is a valid point in discussions regarding Comics not being this untouchable entity that has the majority of people in a trance.19
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u/IJustType May 28 '26
DC definitely needs to do better when it comes to representation but at the same time there are a lot of people using this as a chance to do performative activism.
I can only speak for myself, but this isn't performative for me. I've been reading DC Comics since literally I could read. And the numbers are shocking. In 50 years, they've only had 10 books with a black lead. They've only had enough black writers to count on my hands? That is a crazy statistic. If you think this is performative, what would you personally do to raise awareness at the dearth of black superheroes on the shelves in the main continuity? Historically for black folks boycotts work. I've had DC books on my poll list since literally I could afford to buy my own comics. I've bought every single black book DC's put out since I was like 18 years old. I've seen how they treated the milestone characters over the years and am still so fucking disappointed at that.
For myself and a lot of other black nerds out there, this isn't performative. Like, I know a lot of white folks here will scoff at this and act as if it's not that big of a deal. Or presume that it's all performative grifting. But then I would just ask what would they personally do? And do they think DC would change anything without this shit being brought to their attention?
There are going to be people who do genuinely stop pulling their books however i guarantee you many people will say “yeah, i stopped pulling” but definitely didn’t but will instead no longer post any content showing their new books.
I'm sure some will but in my experience being black in America when black folks unify for a boycott and enough of us do it, it makes a difference. Looking at all the black outlets who are being the nerd comic spaces who are posting about the DC boycott, I feel as though enough of them give it legitimacy. Like, when you have all my favorite black comic YouTubers, TikTokers, Twitter personalities, and even the various black medias posting about this, it just feels as though people are getting under one accord.
You also have to ask the question - if demands are met.. what if these runs sell badly? what if the quality just isn’t good? who gets the blame?
I mean, you also have to ask the question if demands are met and the run so good, will they then give us more books? Because over the years in my entire life I've seen so many times in which a black book doesn't sell and then people point to that one failure as a reason not to make more black books writ at large. But when white books sell, it's just the individual character who doesn't sell. So, I think until people start using the same logic of, like you just said, if the demands are met and the run sells badly, and if the quality isn't good, who gets to blame? Who's to blame for when half the white books fail and get more opportunities? Who's to blame for when Green Arrow gets 31 issues to find an audience but black books can barely get 10 issues to try to find that same audience?
But specifically to your questions, if the demands are met, if these run so badly, it would just be used as fuel to never give Black characters books again. Like it always is when their Black books fails to meet whatever metric DC Comics says is the bar. Because as we know with the direct market, DC and Marvel both obfuscate the sales numbers specifically. They don't want people like us to know how much each book is actually selling.
And also, I don't think that your questions specifically in order are necessarily the most genuine because as we know, a book not selling does not necessarily speak to the quality of that book. There are so many runs that I've enjoyed like Omega Man and the semi-recently cancelled Green Arrow in which the run's quality was there but they just could not find an audience so the book was cancelled. That has been a story of comics over decades. I'm sure we both between us could list books that we know were good and we supported them and we bought every fucking issue but sadly they were cancelled because they just could not find the big enough audience like DC wanted. Sales does not necessarily equal quality and conflating them here when it relates to black books in my experience is always a dog whistle.
I think there’s a lot of questions to be asked about this. I also think ignoring the success of Absolute Green Lantern is surprising when the Absolute titles are generally performing better than all mainline titles is a little bit disingenuous.
I think whats really disengenous is people(who most likely pirate and also most likely don't even buy absolute Green Lantern) using absolute green lantern as a gotcha to discredit the entire boycott.
Like, the guy who started the boycott has, specifically many times on Twitter, explained that absolute Green Lantern is a great book, but one comic does not mean DC should not be taking the task for ignoring the black superheroes and only bringing them out in February every year. One book out of what, 60? Does not mean DC's doing great when it comes to black superheroes. And no matter how good Absolute Green Lantern does, it is still an Elseworld story. As we've seen over the years, Elseworld's stories don't matter as much. If they did, Marvel would've never canceled the Ultimate line and also would've never let Miles Morales go to the main continuity.
I bought every issue of Absolute Green Lantern and it's so annoying seeing so many people use it as a gotcha when half the time you look in their pages they never once talked about Absolute Green Lantern outside of saying this one book is a gotcha to the boycott.
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 May 28 '26
>You also have to ask the question - if demands are met.. what if these runs sell badly? what if the quality just isn’t good? who gets the blame?
The quality has to be there but I just can't belive that there are no talented writers and artist that wants to tell a good story about a black character and that they majority is bad.
Also Absolute Green Lantern is just ONE book, they publish ONE book with a black led character, this shit just sound ridiculous
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u/cambries Wonder Woman May 28 '26
The creator of the campaign has been explicitly ignoring the success of Absolute Green Lantern hence why i mentioned it. I’m someone who wants better representation from DC.
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u/Late_Stage_Exception May 28 '26
I mean, I feel DCs slate of books since Absolute Power have been pretty inclusive and overall solidly diverse. I wonder what the excuse will be if AbCat is a critical darling but the sales just aren’t there.
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u/HammurabiDion May 28 '26
Idk man when DC announces Zatanna, Firestorm, Deadman, Etrigan, Barbara Gordan, Deathstroke, and a Lobo series but not one of them is minority led I’m going to give them the side eye
People need to show out and buy the books like they did with Zatanna and Green Arrow but fans came out for the Dakota Incident and it feels like all we got was Static in Titans.
I also don’t want this shit to feel like homework for them. Half the time a lot of minority characters come out during History Month.
Zatanna did well because fans supported it and because it was AMAZING so people put it in their box.
But support only goes so far when books about middle tier characters we love or want more of are competing for pull box space with the Absolute Universe. Me I bought everything I wanted more of but books are $4-$5 each issue not everyone can. Books with C and B List characters have to work that much harder to get preorders
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u/Ok-Camera5285 May 29 '26
Isn't Zatanna a minority, being of Latin descent on her father's side?
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u/HammurabiDion May 29 '26
I believed he was Italian. I’ve never heard or read anything referring to him having Latin American roots.
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u/Dragonpiece Damian Wayne May 28 '26
I don’t agree with boycotting, but do wish DC would try pushing more black led ongoings with A list talent. I don’t necessarily disagree with a lot of the top comments in this thread that DC has tried in the past and has also attempted several black led minis that haven’t sold too well.
But it is frustrating seeing so many black characters in DC only getting supporting character treatment, especially during this next level initiative, when so many B list characters are getting ongoings yet none of them are black.
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u/Artseid May 28 '26
It very much is. What’s most frustrating is that DC already has these characters, but they’re all just on the bench for some reason.
Like Dr. Light (female version) and not the best example, but why isn’t she pushed more as prominent Asian female superhero?
Batgirl has an ongoing and that’s nice but if you feel you have wrap POC characters in originally white characters clothing to sell them then there’s a huge problem there.
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u/CardTrickOTK May 28 '26
They aren't doing themselves many favors here, when the image literally comes of to make it like 'people are boycotting because DC is trying to push replacement characters'
Not saying that's what's going on, personally I think DCs absolute line is going sicko mode and great, but 'lets show all the black characters that are essentially just other versions of mainline non-black heroes' was probably not the best choice here imo
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u/itsinhisblood Supergirl May 28 '26
DC’s diversity in general USA is pretty bad. There’s that monthly “women in DC” post that sorta opens your eyes to how few women are even writing or drawing, let alone women characters in DC. There’s like what, zero black or Hispanic characters with an ongoing and one Asian woman?
I don’t really know the solution, since it’s not like DC doesn’t try but yeah.
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u/birbdaughter Inza Nelson Stan May 28 '26
Remember how women went from 12% of creatives at DC to like 1% during New52? Yeah that applies kinda across the board to some degree or another where it concerns diversity.
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 May 28 '26
I checked yesterday and there are really just 3 woman writing ongoing at the moment. I feel like the reason why they don't try to push more black led series is because they don't belive they are gonna sell as much as a batman or a superman and are not gonna have a niche audience ready to consume like a Firestorm or a JLI
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u/_spider_trans_ May 28 '26
I would give my life for a Vibe ongoing. Not like a 6-issue miniseries, but a proper ONGOING
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u/Golden_Alchemy May 28 '26
Yeah, but some of the reasons characters get ongoings it is because of the miniseries. Poison Ivy got a mini and now she is in her 50 issue ongoing aprox, so it can help a lot.
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u/comix10290 May 28 '26
Love Vibe but even John’s writing it couldn’t get that book to sales it needed.
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u/Embarrassed_Piano_62 Swamp Thing May 28 '26
I'd love that too! But many would make fun of that idea and instead say "where's my 171675 Robin book?!"
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u/koalee Wonder Woman May 28 '26
There's a lot of people calling these guys grifters, but I'm not really sure what about advocating for a mainline black led solo is grifting. They're not promoting their own books or anything, they're not asking anyone to do anything big or dangerous or to give them money, they're just asking if you also want what they want, to not buy DC comics for a bit. There's been an effort to call attention to the frustrations present here for a while and definitely been attempts to get people to support minis and specials but that clearly hasn't been enough. They're not attacking you for not doing the boycott or anything, but a lot of people seem to be assuming they're malintentioned, or that they haven't been supporting books, or that they don't buy books at all. Some of the complaints here feel like they're meant to invalidate their opinions as fans.
While you may take issue to aspects of it I don't understand the impulse to write off the whole movement? If you're not willing to boycott DC would you be willing sign a petition asking for a mainline black led solo? Would you be willing to write in to DC on social media, or send an email? Is there an action you would be willing to do to support getting a black led mainline solo of the ground? If you aren't willing to do something that's one thing, but there's little reason to belittle the organizers.
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u/NoirPochette Legion Of Super-Heroes May 29 '26
It's not a grift and I think DC needs to do more. However, you can't disregard the Absolute Line, which to me makes this a bit weird. Yes, media as a whole needs to do better but you can't be like "This doesn't count" when said piece of media is doing really well.
At the end of the day it is a business and people need to show up. Marketing comics doesn't work from a brand point of view, so it is up to those on social media to do so via word of mouth which is the best way to do things.
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u/VarkingRunesong May 29 '26
I don’t think this is a grift but I do think petitions online do nothing. What I do to support black main characters is I buy their issues. I bought every issue of Green Lantern: War Journal. I’ve bought every issue of Absolute Green Lantern. I’ve also engaged with folks on socials about these comics.
From my understanding, War Journal got the axe because it undersold what they expected so it went from ongoing to limited.
Absolute Green Lantern has done well as far as I can tell. And I’ll continue to buy these issues but the pushback is always going to be that it’s super easy to write an email or sign a petition but we have to put our money where our mouth is and SPEND.
If everyone demands a John Stewart solo run and then those same folks ignore it it’s not going to help.
I’ll also add that I don’t think we need fans attacking fans. And I do see it online from both sides. That doesn’t and won’t help make anything better.
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u/kralben Plastic Man May 28 '26
Nothing about this is a grift, anyone accusing the organizers of it is not arguing in good faith and are just using a buzzword to avoid criticizing their favorite comic publisher.
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u/badguyinstall May 29 '26
Wasn't Vixen just in Justice League Unlimited? Same with Jaime? Bronze Tiger was in Batgirl and introduced Batgirl's brother Jade Tiger or something to that effect?
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u/Plastic_Metal May 28 '26
I’m a fan of Blerd but this campaign has really soured me on him. The ask of mainline ongoings feels like they’re discounting so many books DC have put out. All that matters is they sell. If anything, they should be asking for better marketing on these books.
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u/MilkIsASauceTV May 28 '26
DC definitely needs better representation and consumers could do more to put pressure on DC to help with that. But hand waving away absolute GL when it’s such a popular run and the only black led ongoing DC has, for such an arbitrary reason too, is a really bad way to get people on your side
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May 28 '26
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u/Sleeps_Gato May 28 '26
DC just isn’t good at promoting their B-list characters. People really only support their A-list characters. That’s where team books come in but DC has been rather light with those
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u/Commercial_Dust_8018 May 29 '26
John Stewart is not version of a white hero
DC has plenty of black characters. They have the entire milestones universe most notable static
They also have John Stewart cyborg vixen Mr. terrific the list can go on. The characters are not interesting because DC doesn’t care to make them interesting
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u/kah43 May 29 '26
As much as they want to make this a racist thing the simple truth is DC just wants to make money. They would change every character to black if it sold more books.
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u/VacuumSeal May 29 '26
How many comic buyers actually care about this though? Anyone who was in on comics probably already knew about the disparity in white leads vs black leads right? It’s all on the shelf. Is there any way to check comic sales to see if this is making an impact beyond word of mouth?
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u/Pale_Emu_9249 May 29 '26
Methinks Mr. Portis should pitch a story with a black lead character to DC. Oh, wait! He doesn't write comics, he writes about comics.
I looked this guy up and he seems to be creating a controversy to gin up the number of followers he has... currently 813 on X. I also learned he had a website. I wonder why he gave up on it.
I think this guy is a hack grifter trying to make a name for himself.
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u/gchypedchick May 30 '26
I don’t think he does enough research before he goes on to talk about something. He made a video on Luke Cage saying he hasn’t been used recently except briefly in the new Alias and was upset about it. However, he was in all 5 issues of the new Battleworld they put out. When I pointed it out, crickets.
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u/slabby May 29 '26
Absolute is more important than the mainline continuity, not less. This is grasping at straws to try to ignore Absolute Green Lantern
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u/gchypedchick May 30 '26
Also, Absolute Catwoman is releasing next month. That will be 2/8 that are black led. If Catwoman sells well, which I believe the preorder numbers are quite positive, they may extend it like Martian Manhunter.
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u/Mysterious_Bit_7713 May 28 '26
Nothing more than a publicity stunt. Also they could actually read a Jonnah Hex story instead throwing accusations with the expectation of creating a fake outrage. Also if they wanted more black comics perhaps they can actually support the already existing ones.
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 May 28 '26
>Also if they wanted more black comics perhaps they can actually support the already existing ones.
who says that they are not alredy doing this
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u/Mysterious_Bit_7713 May 28 '26
They literally admit in the article that they don't support the Absolute Green Lantern series the currently best selling DC title with a black protagonist simply because it is part of the absolute line...
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u/laughathonx20 May 28 '26
I mean tbf, if the campaign never told people to buy Dakota incident with the hope of getting more black ongoing stuff . I doubt it would have sold half of what it did. I bet these people aren’t even supporting absolute green lantern like they should.
The biggest existence against their argument is cyborg. This guy has gotten a mini/solo outing in every era of dc since new 52. Yet all of them sold terribly. His one in dawn of dc sold so bad they had to bring in the titans/mainly beast boy near the end. Which was the most sold issue out of that mini by a mile. There’s definitely some responsibility that needs to be shown by some of these people.
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 May 28 '26
I'm confuse on what you are saying, you are telling me that it's thanks to them that Dakota Incident successed but they are also not supporting black led series ?
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u/laughathonx20 May 28 '26
I mean if they never told people to support Dakota incident(some people bought 4 copies just because) it probably wouldn’t have sold as much so it wouldn’t have been as much of a success as it is.
And yes I’m saying some of these people probably aren’t showing support. Like I said with cyborg and how they completely are dismissing absolute green lantern.
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u/Ravevon May 29 '26
I am in support of black led superhero comics but thease people are full of BS when the milestone imitative started up a couple years ago where were they . Nowhere and all the book flopped . So DC cancelled the books rather than extend them. If you want your heroes to stick around then support them.
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u/Tong-Poo May 29 '26
DC definitely needs to do more with Vixen (and Static). I think DC editorial underestimates how large a fan base she has due to her many appearances on Justice League Unlimited (mostly thanks to Dwayne McDuffie, RIP).
Also they just recently got all the legal stuff around Milestone and all it's characters sorted out, so I think it's fair to give DC some time to get the line and characters figured out. A Milestone re-launch would also be a good opportunity for a "90's nostalgia" branded initiative in-general.
But I also think the guy spearheading this is clearly a clout chaser and has ulterior motives, especially when he keeps moving the goal posts for what he considers "legitimate" or not. And frankly, I don't see Marvel doing much better. Sure, they'll give Black Panther an ongoing, but where's Blade? Brother Voodoo? Luke Cage had a mini-series in 2023 and has been relegated to guest appearances in Venom since. Why doesn't he have a new ongoing or a throwback book with Iron Fist? Seems weird and disingenuous to go after DC when Marvel isn't much better, and in some ways worse about this.
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u/Commercial_Dust_8018 May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
Marvel is definitely doing better notice I say better not good
Blade had a trilogy unheard of for a black DC character has a game coming and maybe a movie if they get their shit together
Black Panther has a trilogy and multiple projects in development
Miles has a decently long comic run another one on the way and also a trilogy in development
Storm the biggest black woman character
Ironheart got her own show
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u/Vincent_Curry May 28 '26
No. I will not boycott. I will not participate. I buy what I want. I read what I want.
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u/nate_garro_chi May 28 '26
Unfortunately, DC is a profit driven business. If people read black-lead books, they would make more of them. Not much more to say.
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u/DifficultChampion746 May 29 '26
I'd also mention that DC's operational model seemingly priorities creatives and A-Listers. Most creative at DC regardless of race or gender would undoubtedly choose to work on Batman or Superman or they'll go with once Vertigo characters like Swampy or Constantine due to the prestige of guys like Moore or Gaiman. If given the chance creative would probably go with Animal Man over Vixen due to the legacy of Morrison.
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u/adnomad May 29 '26
Also mainly because they list her amongst the characters in the article. One way or another every Suicide Squad book is about Amanda Waller. She really is the lead in those books in so many ways. Yes Harley is the poster child but Waller is the center. And yes, there isn’t a book right now but it’s literally like the first time in n years. And that’s because there’s still fallout from the Absolute Power storyline. Hell, there was a whole mini where she destroyed the Wildstorm universe. Sometimes there’s down time for characters. And honestly, is marvel any better? They’re not boycotting them because there’s a Black Panther book and a Storm book? That’s it. Even Luke Cage isn’t in a book right now.
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u/dornwolf May 29 '26
Isn’t the reason Milestone characters aren’t used more is because DC doesn’t put right own them? So wouldn’t that be a reason they are so rarely used
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u/Pale_Appointment_198 May 29 '26
DC handles black characters very well. Mr. Terrific, Far Sector, Abs GL, etc. This feels less like wanting to make an actual difference, and more "hey, look at me" trying to get your name out there and be recognized.
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u/Realnightskin May 28 '26
Replies being super racist for no reason
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u/Brit-Crit May 28 '26
I think that it can be insensitive to say “Comics with African American characters have often underperformed” without considering the external factors that fuel this, but saying that doesn’t automatically make you racist, esp. if you keep trying to change this…
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u/Aloofairy May 28 '26
Dumb boycott if anything at the moment ignoring the current very successful black-led ongoings as well as books with black-led creatives. DC usually gives minis to test things out, low engagement and it won't take off.1
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u/almostthemainman May 29 '26
Bro… just write your own shit. I swear to god boycotting and bitching that companies don’t do xyz is pointless. Do it yourself
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u/Jedi_Master_Stryk May 29 '26
Oh my God, this again? Give me a break. That's because the books don't sell. Everybody whines about this shit and then when they put out these books nobody buys them. It's a business. They're not going to put out these books for fucking charity, grow up. You want them to make more. Organize fans to show up and actually fucking buy the books. I buy the books. I buy a lot of stuff though. I probably spend about $100 a week on comic books.
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u/cowfish007 May 29 '26
Ridiculous. And why are they only boycotting DC? Do Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, etc. have tons of black character led books? When DC did put out comics led by black characters, did they sell well or were the whiners not spending their money where their mouths were running?
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u/CrispyGold May 28 '26
You say that like the Milestone has other avenues for publishing and success.
We had a bunch of Milestone books from a couple years, I read several of them, they were pretty good generally.
But I never saw much discussion or sales surrounding them.
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u/Isthatyobop May 28 '26
People who don’t support this are tripping. How can African American culture — one of the most dominant cultural forces in America — be present in every piece of American media, sports, fashion, entertainment, and music, yet still not present in comic books? In a medium where the only limit is imagination, people still can’t imagine a couple of Black superhero books?
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u/ThisOldBlerd May 29 '26
Good. I wish this effort well. I, however, would not exclude AbsGL. It’s a good title. Yet, DC dropped the ball with the Dakota Universe. Their feeble attempts to keep it on life-support have left fans irritated and frustrated. Also, I am honestly surprised fans don’t have Bat-fatigue.! Every-time I turn around there’s yet another Bat-family title being released or reprinted! Talk about character saturation.!
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u/TheDastardly12 May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
A few questions I have this the boycott:
-Were you even buying comics to begin with?
-Did you support the Milestone initiative when it came out? I did, I bought multiple sets of static season 1, bought season 2 and tried icon and rocket.
-Did you support Far sector? I did, I have the full run in singles, it's trade, and it's compact.
I also actively advocated for both on social media.
I always saw people talk about "Man I wish they would bring Static shock back" and I would reply "He's actually back right now in comics, go check it out and show interest!"
-Did you support black creators? I did, I'm a huge Campbell glazer. As mentioned I bought multiple copies of far sector, I also exclusively purchased his Nightwing variants for Taylor's run, I picked up Zatanna because he was writing it.
DC is a business, they aren't going to commit to a product they don't think is going to make them bank, support the products you want to see.
I saw a post in regard to a specific pairing in DC and someone asked "what books could I support to show my interest in this pairing"
And someone's dead ass and relatively high upvoted reply was. "You dont have to do that, DC has a lot of social media presence, just go to them and start making noise"
What a brain dead and counter productive take, and I fear that's something that is going on with this one too
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u/JesuszillaSon May 29 '26
I buy all black lead runs I can. I've enjoyed some that public perception of the run wasn't that good. I feel I do my part but they don't seem to click with general audiences. Which is a shame because I would buy Power Company in a heart beat
I'm a huge Green Lantern fan with my favorite being John Stewart...I will never discredit Absolute GL that comic has been so much fun to me
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u/goatjugsoup May 29 '26
What a ridiculous argument... wouldnt it be a better campaign to support absolute green lantern? DC will go where the money is after all
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u/MoonpieNobot May 30 '26
For those who haven’t read the article, the tone is potentially misleading in these times; “A group of content creators is coming together to call for a boycott of all DC Comics after what they feel is a dearth of Black-led comic books in the company's primary continuity.”
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u/a_phantom_limb May 30 '26
How many mainline Marvel comics are currently led by Black creatives? That's not an attempt at whataboutism; I genuinely don't know, so I'm curious how it compares to DC's current total of one (according to that article).
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u/Uzario May 28 '26
I've seen this float around a while back, and the handwaving of Absolute Green Lantern still sounds ridiculous. "It's not main continuity" is a really weak complain, especially when the Absolute line is so popular. Hell, some would even argue that it's better than the mainline