Back from Montreal!

Did you check in here over the last week only to notice I hadn't posted anything new to "The View from Flying Colors"?

I was in lovely Montreal, taking in DC's Retailer Representative Program. The RRP is a semi-annual retreat in which DC sales and marketing pros work with comic book retailers to improve DC's lot in the direct market. The event is usually every year to 18 months, but it had been close to three years since the last one. It's a sometimes intense, always informative and invigorating focus group lasting four days.

Without going into surprises I can't tell you about yet---and ones you'll probably hear about on the comic news' sites beore I blog about them here, anyway--- I can tell you it's going to be an incredibly fun ride for readers of the DC Universe titles over the next year or so. DC's plans are ambitious, to say the least, and I'm happy to report this premier publisher is definitely putting back into comics some key ingredients that have been for the most part missing in super-hero comics in recent years.

Some of those ingredients are:
• A cohesive universe and characters that make sense from one title to the next.
• Story surprises that will keep us all coming back for more every week.
• No "waiting for the trade paperback" anymore! Look for a solid rejuvenation of the periodical format with tight attention to story-telling and value in every comic book.
• Each of us will HAVE to read the periodical comics because the new DC is about the "hyper-serial"--- the kind of story-telling that if you blink, you may miss something very cool. It's like the "never look back" attitude of LOST, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and BOSTON LEGAL story-telling with the addition of capes and super-powers.

There's so much more that came from the Montreal RRP. Vertigo, Wildstorm, some potentially exciting Free Comic Book Day news, lots of great comraderie with many great retailers. I'll get to some of that as the days roll on. All I ask is for you to get ready for a good ride from DC--and to be here for the action.

Like the guy says on TV: "When it happens in comics, it happens in Flying Colors!"

Up, up and awaaaayyy!

FlyCoJoe