Didja know? DC imploded once. It wasn't the result of an anti-matter wave or the cracking of the source wall, but instead the comics publisher suffered a crisis of the commercial kind. In 1978, DC was forced to take drastic steps to insure their survival, the most savage of which, (for fans, anyway) was the cancellation of more than two dozen ongoing or soon-to-be published titles. This event has since gained the moniker, "The DC Implosion" and has generated quite a mystique around itself. Multiple what-could-have-beens and what-ifs have spawned within fandom surrounding the implosion, and some of them have even been demystified a bit thanks to titles like Cancelled Comics Cavalcade.
These events would have ramifications for many years and many regime changes afterward, effecting not just the immediate place DC occupied in the comics market, but the way publishing and branding initiatives would be handled going forward. A couple of years ago, when fans compared the first wave of New 52 cancellations to the '78 implosion, I rolled my eyes. The cancelled New 52 books at that time (I wanna say . . . 2012?) were quickly replaced with new titles, and the machine continued to churn out roughly the same amount of content each month. The Implosion was a stiffer, more sobering blow to DC, and when one starts to take some of those little aforementioned what-ifs to their natural conclusions, it's a wonder the publisher survived.
The content DC was publishing in 1978 was as varied in quality and consistency as its ever been, which is a nothing statement except to say that the factors leading to the Implosion were purely financial and the result of bad or overzealous predictions, not due to any kind of dip in the quality of the books. 1978 saw Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers pit Batman against the Joker in Detective Comics #475's "The Laughing Fish", one of the more beloved and referenced encounters between the two. The two Pauls, Kupperburg and Levitz, brought us a celebration of DC's already rich history as of '78 in the trivia geek landmark Showcase #100. Denny O'Neil, Michael Golden, Walt Simsonson, and so many more industry legends than I could name here were still making their mark and the superhero genre continued it's trek through the bronze age with DC at the helm in terms of characterization. The foundation for Frank Miller, Watchmen, and Vertigo is being laid out by the crafty veterans of the Silver Age.
What went wrong? Thematically, DC's Implosion gets its cynical geek handle from an initiative left over from 1977 but still being carried out in '78: The DC Explosion. The Explosion was an attempt to take back the majority market share from Marvel by increasing the number of titles published and adding more story pages to each issue as well. Naturally, this was accompanied by higher cover prices, leading the comic readers' perception to the conclusion that DC was the "premium" or "black label" product. Not just a set of hero rags meant to shill fruit pies and Stan's Soapbox, DC's books were top shelf, varied in genre, and leading the way in cultural relevance. That was the message DC hoped to send, anyway. There are several miscalculations at work here, the least of which is DC's overconfidence that they had a better "finger on the pulse" when it came to the issues of the day. Marvel was undergoing its own bronze age metamorphosis, and it was just as rocky. The latter half of the 70's also saw many mainstay talents from both brands switch sides or fall out of favor with an evolving readership as some of the old tropes in cape books were starting to wear thin.
So again, what went wrong? A lot of things. One major factor that no one could have foreseen took its toll the previous year. Rough blizzards in '77 affecting shipping and distribution, which in turn derailed a business model based on selling a variety of monthly serials. Titles got backed up, fans got frustrated, creators got frustrated, sales dropped off. Below the realms of weather, but still above the heads of the average Joe was the ongoing economic recession of the 70's, another factor from the all-too-real world that would bring the publishers of cosmic flights of fancy to their knees with a blaring red pair of financial Omega Beams. When God and the economy team up against you, what chance is there?
It's important that I take a step back here, so as not to paint DC in too much of a sympathetic light. These events were exacerbated by greed and the desires to yell "Checkmate!" at a competitor that had done the unthinkable earlier in the decade, dethroning what had been the most dominant institution in comics since the days of National and Timely. DC's clout in the publishing world had made life hell for Marvel and publisher Martin Goodman in the 60's, even limiting the number of titles Marvel could publish at one point. (As a result, we got all of those cool double feature books like Strange Tales.) Marvel came up as the underdog, or at least the smallest of the Titans. Marvel redefined superheroes and even trademarked the damn term! Marvel was making headway in Hollywood, or at least it looked that way at the time, and they were getting their heroes read on college campuses while DC's heroes lived in long shadow of their multimedia adaptations like William Dozier's Batman series or the Lynda Carter version of Wonder Woman. DC was hungry and determined to get back on top, but their desired outdistanced their reach and the cost would be heavy.
These costs would come in the form of staff layoffs, stock damages, and the cancellation of nearly 40% of the publisher's line at the time. To be clear, this company was nearly cleaved in twain by these events. As dramatic as the losses were, what was worth betting on for DC at the time? Could Vixen, Green Team, and Shade the Changing Man have entered the 80's as breakout titles if the weather had been a little different? Or if the recession had cleared up a bit? What impact could stepping on this proverbial butterfly have had on the careers and legacies of guys like Tony Isabella or Russ Heath?
See what I mean about the What-Ifs? They get to you. I'm no economist and I'm certainly not the weather man, so I'll be focusing mainly on the cancelled titles of the Implosion. In this multi-part feature, we'll be exploring the titles lost in the Implosion and hopefully getting a peek at what could have been. Join me tomorrow for what I like to call, "The Casualties".
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