Matthew Dykes of KAPOW! Comics in Sherwood , Arkansas
If you are unfamiliar with The Boys, it is about an individual hired by a government agency to get together a group of people to keep track of all the wrong things the quote unquote superheroes are doing. Think of the capes as absolute power corrupts absolutely. The capes in this story are unredeemable and need to be put in check and that's where the boys come in.
Last Wednesday was a sad day for many a fan-boy in my store after reading on Newsarama that DC had decided to cancel The Boys. I know it wasn't for lack of sales, having heard that the print run was over 30,000 for each issue, which means that DC just doesn't have room in its library for something as edgy as The Boys. The title may have had explicit sexual content and definitely was violent but it was no worse then Preacher, which had a 66 issue run and still sells as TPBs. Why do they feel that they need to force their views on me? Let my customers and me choose what we want to read. I'm in the Bible Belt and have to have religious views forced on me already. Now my comic book company wants to decide what's decent and proper. DC, you have definitely lost a fan and most importantly a purveyor. I will continue to buy your comics for my customers but in no way will I promote your comics (i.e. posters, suggested reading, etc.).
DC signs huge contracts with the likes of Jim Lee, Grant Morrison, etc. for books that can't even get made on time (All-Star Batman and Robin, Wildcats, Authority, All-Star Superman), but the books with loyal fans get dropped because of what they deem fit for their readers. Books like Texas Chainsaw Massacre show people being slaughtered like pigs (literally), but God forbid you show capes in a way that has never been imagined before and here comes the censorship. It is kind of ironic the same day that that DC cancels The Boys, Ennis' other book, The Chronicles of Wormwood, comes out and part of the subject matter of the book deals with censorship. DC may be making new fans with their mainstay titles but they are definitely losing fans in their Wildstorm line. This is hands down the worst decision DC has made in a long time.
I'm sure my store isn't the same as most but I've got more people buying this book then I do Batman. In fact I've got people who buy multiple copies to share with friends and co-workers who don't read comics, so why DC made this move is so unclear to me.
Good luck to Garth on finding another distributor for The Boys, and for the fans that will miss it try reading The Chronicles of Wormwood until The Boys finds a home at a new and more progressive company.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
If you are unfamiliar with The Boys, it is about an individual hired by a government agency to get together a group of people to keep track of all the wrong things the quote unquote superheroes are doing. Think of the capes as absolute power corrupts absolutely. The capes in this story are unredeemable and need to be put in check and that's where the boys come in.
Last Wednesday was a sad day for many a fan-boy in my store after reading on Newsarama that DC had decided to cancel The Boys. I know it wasn't for lack of sales, having heard that the print run was over 30,000 for each issue, which means that DC just doesn't have room in its library for something as edgy as The Boys. The title may have had explicit sexual content and definitely was violent but it was no worse then Preacher, which had a 66 issue run and still sells as TPBs. Why do they feel that they need to force their views on me? Let my customers and me choose what we want to read. I'm in the Bible Belt and have to have religious views forced on me already. Now my comic book company wants to decide what's decent and proper. DC, you have definitely lost a fan and most importantly a purveyor. I will continue to buy your comics for my customers but in no way will I promote your comics (i.e. posters, suggested reading, etc.).
DC signs huge contracts with the likes of Jim Lee, Grant Morrison, etc. for books that can't even get made on time (All-Star Batman and Robin, Wildcats, Authority, All-Star Superman), but the books with loyal fans get dropped because of what they deem fit for their readers. Books like Texas Chainsaw Massacre show people being slaughtered like pigs (literally), but God forbid you show capes in a way that has never been imagined before and here comes the censorship. It is kind of ironic the same day that that DC cancels The Boys, Ennis' other book, The Chronicles of Wormwood, comes out and part of the subject matter of the book deals with censorship. DC may be making new fans with their mainstay titles but they are definitely losing fans in their Wildstorm line. This is hands down the worst decision DC has made in a long time.
I'm sure my store isn't the same as most but I've got more people buying this book then I do Batman. In fact I've got people who buy multiple copies to share with friends and co-workers who don't read comics, so why DC made this move is so unclear to me.
Good luck to Garth on finding another distributor for The Boys, and for the fans that will miss it try reading The Chronicles of Wormwood until The Boys finds a home at a new and more progressive company.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.