Dear DC Comics
Dear DC Comics,
Is it suddenly warm in the Fortress of Solitude? I see that, 
as part of your re-launch in September, Superman will now have short sleeves. Last time I checked, it was cold in the Fortress.
I can understand why you would want Jim Lee to re-design all of your iconic characters. His Wonder Woman design, complete with pants and ‘80s bolero jacket, was so well-received last year. It was not the subject of scorn and ridicule at all. So it makes perfect sense that he should give Superman short-sleeves when Kal-El works in a sub-zero climate. I mean, people loved it in the ‘90s when Clark Kent had an ‘80s mullet, so I’m sure this short-sleeve thing is here to stay.
I also get that you don’t want to be #2 anymore. Apparently, Marvel, with their huge summer events, ridiculous kill-a-character stories, obvious pandering and of-the-moment cutting-edge-ness, consistently beats you in sales. (I also think that part of the reason Marvel is beating you is because they have gotten their head out of their butts with regard to making movies and this Summer have 3 movies to your 1 – but that’s a different matter entirely.)
I know that it’s all about sales.
But here is what I don’t understand. It appears that the new stories and revamped characters are aimed at people who are NOT reading your comics. Let’s get some new fans on-board. Let’s make some buyers out of these people who are just too scared to purchase Action Comics #899. “That’s just too many issues,” they must be saying! “I wouldn’t know where to begin!” “Now, if that was Action Comics #1, well, that would be a different story…”
But here’s my question: what about me? DC, you currently have me buying 5 Batman-related titles. Come September, that will decrease to 1. See, here’s the thing: Dick Grayson is my favorite character. I’ve followed him since I was a lad. I’ve watched him grow. I’ve watched him change in an organic, believable way. I didn’t ever need him to revert back to an earlier time or be younger. I liked it when he became a cop. And I loved it when he took over the role of Batman. It made sense. And it also felt like all those years I’d spent as a reader, believing that someday, this guy is going to be Batman, paid off. I have probably never been this happy as a reader.
And Dick Grayson is the perfect example of why change is an OK concept to embrace in comic books. Fans liked him as Robin, but they were still fans when he turned over a new leaf as Nightwing. And judging by the letters in your new letter columns, they seem to like him as Batman too. I was going to write in months ago just to tell you what a great job you were doing with the Grayson character, but so many other people were doing so, that I didn’t feel I could come up with any new way to say it.
As you know, Dick is one of the only characters who has clearly and obviously changed over the years.
And I’ve followed him all the way. 
When Superman was dying and coming back to life, or Batman was being a jerk, or Wonder Woman was wearing a stupid jacket and pants, Dick was growing and changing in subtle ways that made sense. He didn’t need to un-mask or forget he was married like Spider-Man.
Dick didn’t ever need to be a ridiculous punch-line or headline, he just needed good storytelling. That’s what kept me reading.
But then, I knew it couldn’t last.
I’ve been devouring tales of, what Dan Didio called “the once and future Batman” with ravenous abandon because I knew, sooner or later, you would disappoint me and switch things back. So, come September, I’ll be picking up Nightwing and not all those other Batman books I was buying. One instead of five.
Because here’s what I’m getting at, DC: how about you make comics for ME? That sounds pretty bold, doesn’t it? Pretty self-centered? But listen, I’m the guy who goes to the comic shop religiously every week? I’m the guy who plunks down my hard-earned money every month to see what your characters are doing. I’m not the guy who’s not buying your books right now, who is apparently your target audience. I’m the guy who actually IS buying them. Without me, and many other dedicated readers, perhaps you would be #4 instead of #2.
So maybe, don’t spend so much time targeting the non-comic reader and thinking of ways to disappoint the regular buyers. Because, I’ll tell you a little secret: if you impress me with good stories, I’ll keep buying your comic books. That’s really all it takes. I don’t need hype. I don’t need events. I don’t need lame reinventions of iconic costumes. I don’t need you to kill characters you were always going to bring back to life. I don’t need people in wheelchairs to walk again.
I just need good stories.
And maybe for some of your artists to look around at what people are wearing these days so that we don’t get anymore outdated bolero jackets or mullets. I mean, for God’s sake, Nighwing had a mullet in 1997 and that is just unacceptable.
As I recall, everyone was really happy with this costume, so...
...it's about time he looked like this in the books.
