Wait, Detective Comics? Really? You didn't know that DC stood for Detective Comics? Sure enough, the comic label that brought you a man in blue tights that can fly as well as a detective who likes bats is named after the genre of comic stories it told. Detective crime stories.
Which makes you wonder why they have a name that is pretty redundant. It's like saying ATM machine. The machine is already included as the M of ATM. And yet we have Detective Comics Comics. In any case, over the decades they've constantly changed their logo. And it appears it's time to do another regeneration of the DC logo that appears on the top left of the comics
We didn’t want a static logo, but a living identity that could capture the power of our characters and storytelling,” says Amit Desai, senior vice president of franchise management. “What is special about DC content is the notion of a dual identity. When you think about our DC Comics superheroes, there’s a secret identity. When you think about Vertigo, it’s this notion of good vs. evil in many of the stories. And so, in addition to flexibility, the new logo communicates this idea of dual identity: There’s more than meets the eye. You have to take a closer look to understand the richness of our characters and stories.
So I guess you can take the first reaction after seeing this black and white version, which had to be black and white for the patent and copyright process as color doesn't matter. Or if you submit it with color then it ONLY includes a patent for the logo in that specific color.
But my first reaction to this was that the new DC logo looked so goddamn generic. I mean, it looks like a peeling sticker. DC should be more than that and should have something iconic with two whole letters. Much like how their logos appeared in the past.
But then you realize it's not for the printed books. As anyone in the industry can tell you, they're just about worried that the printed work is all but dead. The future for comic books is in digital. I'm sure this new logo has more roots for the future of digital than anything else. Just look at the designs again. This time with color and with their themes going on for each comic title.
I can honestly say that I can get behind the Green Lantern version. And suddenly with seeing it in color, I'm much more okay with the new logo. I was worried it was just going to be gray and boring or just non-existent blue and white. The whole 'dynamic logo' thing is actually pretty good when you see it in motion.
It also adds a new element to the books. Especially when it comes to digital as the new logo is going to be animated on the digital content. Like we'll see the D and it will peel back to show the C and end in the static image we see here
I mean, it still looks like a symbol for a paper processing company. Nothing really is "energetic" or "fun" about the static image of it. And I have to wonder on if DC is trying to bring back the 90's so much with the hiring and pimping out of Liefeld, why they just didn't go back to their old 90's logo?
So what can we expect this to look like on the comic page?
As you can see, it may look cool on digital comics, but on the actual printed stuff, it's going to look a little.. well flat. Not to mention that while the green lantern one looks neat, the Batman one just looks like it's generic. Oh, scary, some fog...
In the end, this doesn't effect the story and unless the new DC logo is the main villain of the next mega event, it's not going to have any effect and will be socially accepted into the comic world, even if it has to deal with a little good nature ribbing.
Come five to ten years from now when they change the logo yet again, I'm sure people will be complaining that they're changing it. Even if they hated it. Because in the end, that's what us comic folks do. We complain.
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