DC's New 52: Interview With Comic Shop Owner Steven Olsen

DC has pulled it off. 52 #1s released in 29 days. The sales were staggering.

All 52 of the comics landed in the top 100 comics of the month. Justice League, Batman, and Action Comics were the three best selling (in that order). The New 52 have breathed a new life into the comics industry.

For sales analysis and further details, see ICv2's Top 300 Comics Index.

Steven Olsen, store owner of Little Shop of Comics, was kind enough to let me interview him about how he felt about The New 52 from the point of view as both a fan and comic shop owner.

We began our discussion at the beginning. DC first told comic shop owners about The New 52 around the closing of the first half of 2011. Since the comics were coming out in September, and this was massive news, Steven's initial reaction was that of worry.

"We had no idea what it was going to be like, this had never happened before. How much we needed to order and how to budget the New 52 was pretty much unknowable."  

As a fan, Steven's issues mirrored those of most comics enthusiasts. The removal of certain characters from the DCU (such as Wally West as The Flash, and Stephanie Brown as Batgirl), characters people grew up with and love, was the primary source of backlash from comics fans. Changing Barbara Gordon from Oracle, a role model for those with disabilities, to Batgirl is still an offense that remains largely unanswered. DC was also known for not messing around with the numbering of their comics. Action Comics was at #904! Resetting such an impressive number to one was understandably upsetting. 

In the end, though, the New 52 were for the best. "I thought I was going to sell 20 copies of Animal Man and return the rest. We sold out. People were coming into the store who had never read a comic before, interested in these #1s. Sure, some people thought that if they bought Action Comics #1 it would be worth thousands years from now, but we did get brand new readers, which comics needed." 

"DC's advertisement initiative worked," he continued. "They spent one million on promotion. I've been into comics for forty years, and never once had I seen a commercial for them on TV. Seeing the New 52 commercial on TV was awesome."

When he said that DC delivered on a huge percentage of the New 52, I asked him what his personal favorite #1s were. "It was Detective Comics for the first three weeks, hands down, but now it's about tied with Aquaman."

When I asked him if he thought DC did anything wrong, he said that cutting story arcs short in August made the last issues feel rushed, which was a shame. Besides that, though, he has no complaints for DC, and he, like the rest of the comic world, is thrilled with the overall quality of the new comics.

He does, however, hope that DC lays off the big events. "Seeing a bunch of mini-series that tie into a big event to milk it for all its worth isn't enjoyable for readers. They're too often hit and miss, and they really create event fatigue within the fanbase. If DC does do a big event sometime soon, I hope they keep the tie-ins to a minimum."

What also bothers some fans, and by far the biggest controversy in The New 52, is the sexual portrayal of women, particularly in Catwoman, Red Hood and The Outlaws, and Voodoo. Steven thought that some of the hysteria, however, was unwarranted. "If you want comics to be enjoyed by people of all ages, then you have to write different books that will appeal to different age groups. Unfortunately, parents don't realize that comics aren't restricted to the same standards they used to be, but that's not DC's fault."

The only big downside to the New 52, he relayed, is that other publishers's sales are declining. "Even Marvel is hurting. It's not normal to see sales for a big event (Fear Itself) decline seven issues in. And indie comics don't sell a lot as it is, and this cast an even bigger shadow over them."

We concluded the conversation contemplating what is to come. "It's too soon to tell if DC will be able to maintain their initial success, as sales of new comics usually only become stable at around issue #5. I can only hope that this isn't a one-time thing, and that people will be returning."

I certainly hope so, too. And huge thanks to Steven for his insight and to everyone at Little Shop of Comics for running a friendly, reliable, wonderful store!