The New 52: How to Carry Its Success to Other Media

While DC Comics’s line-wide relaunch, “The New 52,” hasn’t been without its problems or detractors, it’s hard to argue that it hasn’t been an overall success.There’s discussion and enthusiasm about a number of DC’s characters for the first time in years and while many titles have descended back down to their pre-relaunch sales levels, there are others that are still bolstered by the clean slate. It also elevates sales whenever a “long-lost” character like The Joker, who hadn’t yet appeared post-New 52 prior to October, finally pops up.And, seriously, who would ever have thought that things like a Blue Devil/Black Lightning team-up or new appearances of Mr. Mxyzptlk and The Atomic Skull would be enough to justify headlines all their own? There’s certainly something there, but that’s all in the comics realm and it’s all very much preaching to the converted.How do you take that success outside of comics, to bolster the film projects where Warner-owned DC lags far behind their crosstown competition at Marvel? And what projects might be better for other venues rather than a big-budget feature film? Some ideas…