DC Comics hopes new superheroes will widen fan base

The publisher is calling it "DCYou". Various websites call it "the Batgirlisation of DC". Whatever you call it, it's an attempt to broaden the base of comics readership.

This month, DC Comics is launching 21 new titles and changing the premises of a fistful of others. A press release describes this initiative as a "bold, new direction", but since it's been only four years since DC's last "bold, new direction", is there any reason to believe the hype?

Actually, yes. While most "bold, new directions" usually translate to "what we were doing before, only more of it", this time DC really is trying some new things. And while not all of them will appeal to everybody, they shouldn't: there should be comics to suit a broad range of tastes, not just generic superhero stories that appeal to the same fan base over and over.

Two of the most interesting new books debuted on June 3: Bizarro and Bat-Mite. The former you might remember as the backwards-talking super-moron with the chalky white skin, and he's back, on a road trip with Jimmy Olsen. ( The Daily Planet's young photographer is trying to trick the blundering, destructive nincompoop into going to Canada. Sorry, Canada.) The latter is a hero-worshipping imp from another dimension with magic powers who dresses up like Batman and is on a mission to "improve" the superheroes of our dimension.

Naturally, our heroes don't want the help, especially since it invariably takes the form of immense property damage.