(Please) Share Your Buying Habits With DC Comics’ Second Nielsen Survey For Fans

Technically, even this article violates the terms in taking the survey by revealing the contents of any of the questions. It is perhaps why there isn’t more talk about its contents of this survey or the previous one. It might mean absolutely nothing, but you do electronically sign that you will not disclose this information in any way. I can’t imagine the purpose of them throwing a fake title into this mix. It’s nothing but a head-scratcher. There’s also no complimentary survey that I’m aware of for retailers to fill out asking them important questions such as “have your orders increased or decreased?” or “in which titles did you notice the biggest change in sales?” or “do you believe the combo packs of print & digital are hurting your business?” 

Done! Thanks for the heads up.

I wrote a small novel.

No matter how many titles you said you read or wanted to read, if you don’t own any of their comics, you can’t fill out the survey.

Same here. Or maybe I’m “too old” in addition to being “too female”. I’m 35. And it’s not like they threw me out because I’m not a comics-purchaser. I truthfully said I had bought at least 34 digital comics the last six months. Funnily enough, they’re most DC titles through Comixology, like Sandman and Eternals… because I trusted Gaiman’s writing skills not to give me the “dagnabbit, can’t the woman put on some clothing appropriate to her job and can we get a story line/character arc resolved before we reboot again?” rage.

Most of the rest are the fabulous Farscape comics.

And I very, very carefully made sure to say “Not familiar with it” if I didn’t know the title. I guess Anonymous is right. I don’t own any of the New 52 titles and they haven’t done much to make me interested in getting most of them, and there were only a handful I said I wanted but hadn’t bought, so I guess my money’s not green enough for them and they don’t want me to tell them what might entice me to buy more?

Seriously, comics and video games, it’s like SOME of you don’t even WANT my cootie-covered girly-money!

I didn’t qualify for the survey, I guess because I don’t buy much DC. Which is weird, because I’d probably buy more DC if I could tell them what I like and they take it into account.

Done. I actually buy about ten DC comics a month. Enjoyed having the chance to tell them that I prefer comic book store experience due to the sense of community and how deplorable Jason Todd and the Outlaws was.

Apparently I don’t qualify.

Again, while I buy comics (even DC comics) I have yet to buy any of the new 52, and am disqualified from this survey.  I would be nice if they had a second survey to send all us lovely people who want to provide data to DC so we can let them know what would make us interested in buying the 52.

It kicked me out after a few questions. Probably because I don’t buy any monthly titles, and I only follow a few DC books in trade.

I don’t think age/gender/other demographics matter at all. I’m 41 and it worked fine. I’m pretty sure you got kicked out because you don’t own any new 52 titles. After all, since it’s geared towards people’s impressions of the new 52 titles, they wouldn’t get relevant data if you don’t have any.

The question with a fake title is a common practice in market and social research. It’s used to figure out how many of the respondent’s opinions are their opinions and how many are just them trying to make themselves look good and make the survey people happy. They often do this with surveys about politics – if someone says they follow current political events closely and present themselves as an expert and then they very confidently state their opinions about a fake minister or senator, then the answer is treated as “weighing” less, because it can’t be completely trusted. Or even gets excluded from the survey completely, if they are being really careful about biased results.

I haven’t read anything much from the New 52, but from what I have read, it doesn’t seem worth it. I read Batman, and I read it a lot of the time for the rogues. I just really adore bad guys, and it helps that they have such an awesome good guy to go up against, but I’ve still always likes the villains more than the heroes for some reason. That said, three things:

1) Harley Quinn’s redesign and new origin is dumb. Why’s she gotta have the same pasty skin the Joker has? Why is she in the Suicide Squad now? Why can’t we have a little of the old Harley back? I mean, I didn’t like it when she was played up as the Joker’s second-fiddle either, but come on. You’re going a bit too far with the redesign methinks, and I’m not so sure that from previews I’ve seen, I like where her character is going much at all.

2) Poison Ivy IS NOT AN ANTI-HEROINE. No, she IS NOT. That is all.

3) The Joker hasn’t changed one bit, and that is disappointing me greatly. You were supposed to reboot things and change things, DC. You weren’t supposed to stick with the same status quo that had been going on for years prior. Have you forgotten the Joker’s character entirely? He’s NOT just a serial killer with a clown gimmick. He is a criminal mastermind. He does more than just kill people in creative ways. He manipulates people, he screws with people’s heads, he stalks people, he torments people, he’s just as likely to drive you to suicide or lunacy as he is to kill you. Why are you not embracing THAT characterization of him and instead copying Heath Ledger’s Joker? I like Heath’s Joker, really, but he belongs in the Nolanverse. And even he wasn’t all about the killing. That Joker mind-screwed Harvey Dent for cripes sake. And he’s not even living up to his name anymore. Have you forgotten that part of the Joker’s appeal is that he is supposed to be blackly, darkly funny? Have you forgotten that his whole thing is dead baby style comedy and gallows humor? That he is just as likely to make puns and use slapstick as he is to use wit? I am very disappointed, DC Comics, that you have forgotten what one of your most iconic villains is at his core, and this disease just keeps spreading to other villains in the comics. It’s happening to Riddler, it’s happening to Two-Face, it’s happening to just about every Batman bad guy. I don’t even wanna talk about how badly Mad Hatter’s been screwed over by the reboot. That is my biggest complaint with the New 52, that you are ‘reimagining’ your villains in ways that don’t even seem true to who they are. That’s not reimagining. That’s just disappointing.

“How could they go about getting people other than 18-34 year old men to read their comics?”

Um, i always wondered why DC would want to do that? I mean its not like it really changed all that much… DC was pretty much aiming at the same demographic before hand & we were all still enjoying the books we enjoyed.

Its kind of like being offended when the publishers of girlfriend inform us that there demographic is female teenagers. If you enjoy the magazine that cool you go on enjoying it: Does being told that this product isn’t designed specifically for you going to stop you enjoying it?

Sure i hate the reboot, but it had nothing to do with a supposed change in demographic, i hated it due to its plummeting technical skills, disinteresting stroy & stupid attempt to make everything edgy. An frankly enough people locally thought the same, to the point that at a local convention i went to there was enoughof us for an event called “DC Reboot, where did the magic go.”

Also if you say “do not want” for everything but Orange Ivy it’ll also not allow you to take the rest of the survey… apparently DC’s only interested in your opinion if you like there products. Seems like a very dishonest way to try to get an honest answer for what you are doing wrong or right.