Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett looks at comic labeling and the return of a vintage strip character.

For years I've been saying DC and Marvel should do market research and in a previous column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--There Are Worse Things To Believe In") I quoted Dan Didio at length as to why DC didn't.  The quote is too large to include here but in summary he said it was basically cheaper to have several issues of a comic book written, drawn, edited, printed and distributed then to ask if anyone actually wanted it in the first place.

So I was startled when I read that DC Comics had commissioned a Nielsen Survey on the New 52.  I participated and while I am enjoined from revealing much about it I can say I was fairly satisfied with the questions.  However I do hope there will be a follow-up survey six months from now with more general questions about what readers want, and don’t want in their comics.  

In case you missed it last week the i09 website posted a piece titled "DC Comics' Response to Starfire Controversy: Don't let your kids read our comics" which included the publisher's official response to the furor over the content in the New 52 title Red Hood and The Outlaws:

"We've heard that's being said about Starfire today and we appreciate the dialogue on this topic.  We encourage people to pay attention to the ratings when picking out any books to read themselves or for their children."

You know, I really should have known it was our fault.  But I have an idea; if DC really doesn't want kids reading comics like that they ought to put something like the warning label that appears on every issue of Marvel's Wolverine: The Best There Is.  It's obvious, ugly and couldn't possibly be missed.  I can already hear DC’s cries of “Our sales would plummet!” but I suspect it would actually help attract the very audience they seem to be seeking.  And after reading Voodoo #1 I'm even more convinced that audience is reading Maxim, not that there's (necessarily) anything wrong with that; they should just be upfront about it.

Last week I wrote how, if only for reasons of relative realism, DC could retire Arkham Asylum and replace it with a mental health facility more reflective of the real world.  I realize now isn't the most opportune to do it, what with their being a successful video game named Arkham Asylum.  Not to mention Arkham has already made its first DC New 52 appearance in Batman: The Dark Knight #1 where the facility has definitely undergone some changes.  While the exterior still looks like Dracula's castle the interiors now more closely resemble the kind of covert lab/military base you're likely to find in a first person shooter game.  At the very least Arkham needs to change its current policy of allowing violent repeat offenders easy access to their distinctive wardrobes.

As previously established I'm a big fan of mostly forgotten comic strips like Mutt & Jeff and Mandrake the Magician, but my absolute favorite is probably Joe Palooka.  Created by Ham Fisher it concerned the ups and downs in the career of a saintly prize fighter.  It was very popular in the 1930's and 40's and though not highly regarded by critics today I've always admired its skillful continuities and the ahead-of-its-time way it championed religious and racial tolerance.  But as much as I love the strip I would have bet money I don't have that no one would ever try to revive it.

Except somebody has.  According to a piece on the MMA DieHarts Website dated September 30 by Jason Kelly titled "The Resurrection of Joe Palooka; Legendary boxer modernized into MMA fighter."  Apparently boxing ring announcer Joe Antonacci discovered that the trademark for Palooka, a character he had enjoyed as a kid, had lapsed.  He acquired it and decided to bring him back as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter.

October 3 the first two issues of Joe Palooka were made available for download (if you go to the Joe Palooka website you can sign up to receive a fifteen page preview of the first issue via email) with print copies coming in early 2012.  I have to confess I'm no big fan of Mixed Martial Arts (so out of it am I that I actually had to go and look "MMA" up online) but I do have to admire the skillful way Antonacci is using social media and MMA websites to promote his comic outside the direct sales market.   

It's definitely a complete reimagining of the character and as far as I can see the comic book Joe is nothing like the comic strip Palooka.  But Antonacci clearly has the proper respect for the character and hopefully this new version will inspire some publisher to finally collect Ham Fisher's Joe Palooka.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.