CBR: The DC Comics New Reader Litmus Test: The New 52

[CBR News]

DC Comics claims its relaunched number one issues are new reader-friendly, so CBR News asked non-comic book readers to weigh in on this week's batch of New 52 comics.


Full article here.

[Raye]

I think the methodology here is a bit flawed. I get that maybe you didn't have the time to give people more than one book to read, but what if the people saying they're having a hard time understanding this or that story would have had a hard time with all the books? what if they got a story that just wasn't right for them? Maybe it's an issue of comic format more than anything, in which case I'm a bit at a loss what to do about it. Also, some of them seem to be coming in with rather unrealistic expectations of what can be explained in a single issue, and that sometimes you don't really need to know all the details. Others may also be new, but have more realistic expectations. Like the one who read Batgirl seemed to understand that more would follow, some others did not seem to get this.

[doordoor123]

How old were these people? what was their gender? race? How interested were they in actually reading comics? Have they liked super heroes before or were they forced to pick up books? Were they paid to be a new reader?
These 13 people could be the wrong people. There are very specific type of people that end up reading comics. And the effort is to try to reach out to those specific people.

[TheVampire]

i feel only to agree with the Stormwatch comment. Even if i'm an Authority fan (so i know many of those characters) i really feel that it would be a problem for new readers to understand and like the issue without reading any other old Authority stories too.
Maybe, anyways, that some series like Stormwatch are not aimed to newcomers, but just to the old Wildstorm fans.

[GreatGobo]

Nice straw poll, I don't think this was meant to be scientific. I'm not surprised most people don't know some of the esoteric superheros. Hipster Superman is awesome though. You should show that reader Kingdom Come, then he'll always be known as Hipsterman!

[RohanRiderX]

.is one of the only new readers who was actively confused by the artwork, however. "Are they all Asian, or is that just how they're drawn?" he wanted to know, adding, "Which is fine, but I can't tell."

see why its so damn funny to make fun of leifelds art

[GalactaSurfer]

Batwing > Detective Comics.

I cant believe that this column is actually going to refer people to Detective Comic and away from Batwing. IMO DC was boring and the same ol same ol while Batwing had beautiful art and compelling new characters.

Why is Batwing in Africa? WTF?!

[IroncladMerc]

I've never read any Wildstorm comics, but I wasn't confused with Stormwatch, I understood what was going on. I think it's new-reader friendly.

[TheVampire]

How old were these people? what was their gender? race? How interested were they in actually reading comics? Have they liked super heroes before or were they forced to pick up books? Were they paid to be a new reader?
These 13 people could be the wrong people. There are very specific type of people that end up reading comics. And the effort is to try to reach out to those specific people.

Yeah, right, of course this is just a 13 random peoples reaction. Not enough to be a reliable analysis of the market IMHO.

[Raye]

i feel only to agree with the Stormwatch comment. Even if i'm an Authority fan (so i know many of those characters) i really feel that it would be a problem for new readers to understand and like the issue without reading any other old Authority stories too.
Maybe, anyways, that some series like Stormwatch are not aimed to newcomers, but just to the old Wildstorm fans.

I'm confused by that line of thinking, I've seen it a few times. I've been critical of the issue, but I don't have a hard time understanding it. All the characters are different, and some are new. The organization is NOTHING like either Stormwatch or the Authority aside from maybe attitude. So my knowledge of their previous appearances means jack all as far as understanding it goes, really. What was it that was hard to understand?

[Zoidberg, M.D.]

I'm a little surprised about some of the comments. I had never read Animal Man or Swamp Thing and had no trouble understanding the #1 issues. In fact, they are two of my three favorite books so far.

[RohanRiderX]

I'm a little surprised about some of the comments. I had never read Animal Man or Swamp Thing and had no trouble understanding the #1 issues. In fact, they are two of my three favorite books so far.

me to animal man was i think my favorite book last week and i think the confusion with the mind thing coulda been the font but thats me

of course we are comics fans and yea

[ScarlettLynn]

These aren't really "new readers" though, are they? These people didn't start off curious about a book and pick it up of their own accord. You assigned them a book, right? I think this test was good for figuring out if the new books are confusing to new readers but the end "would they buy issue two" is such a completely flawed litmus test. They didn't buy issue one and they didn't even want to buy the comic to begin with. People will likely be picking up comics that they are already curious about and that preexisting interest will color any opinions they form about the book.

Definitely an interesting little experiment though. And definitely interesting to see what is and isn't confusing to new readers.

[Raye]

I'm a little surprised about some of the comments. I had never read Animal Man or Swamp Thing and had no trouble understanding the #1 issues. In fact, they are two of my three favorite books so far.

I had read Moore's Swamp Thing but that was years ago (I kept telling myself I'd refresh myself before going in, but never did. still want to tho) and had never read Animal Man (though now I really want to, cus I loved Animal Man 1 here) and understood them fine. So yeah, I'm right there with you.

I think reading comprehension in general may just be poor for a bunch of people.

[WhitOro]

I didn't know absolutly ANYTHING about OMAC, other than the fact that Dan DiDio was one of the writers. Yet, I still enjoyed it.
ScarlettLynn is right, I had the same feeling reading this: you picked random people and assigned them a book. It's interesting, but I don't think in reality it will go this way.