In 1977, DC Comics approached writer Jenny Blake Isabella with the idea of creating an ongoing series for a brand new Black superhero. What they presented wasn’t just misguided; it was a warning sign. The character, The Black Bomber, was a white man whose “power” was the ability to transform himself into a Black man with an afro and superhuman abilities. Isabella immediately denounced the concept, recognizing the damage it would do to DC’s reputation. After going back to the drawing board, Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden would bring Black Lightning to newsstands and comic shops across the country. In the decades that followed, however, DC would begin to neglect, sideline, and use the same recycled excuse of “they just don’t sell” when criticized about their lack of representation in the spotlight. It has now been 1171 days since the last time DC published an ongoing series for a Black character in their mainline continuity, and it wasn’t the publisher who realized this; it was the fans.
2025, at first glance, appeared to be a promising year for Black characters at DC. Black Lightning had returned in a brand new mini-series, and was on its third issue, and the DC Power one-shot returned for its third annual release. Outside of the main continuity, Absolute Green Lantern continued to sell out on store shelves alongside the other titles in the Absolute Universe, and the Milestone Returns Universe concluded in the pages of Shadow Cabinet. As the year progressed, writers Jeremy Adams and Morgan Hampton would collaborate on the Green Lantern Corps, featuring leads John Stewart and Sojourner “Jo” Mullein. Mr Terrific: Year One, written by award-winning journalist Al Letson, was released alongside the new Superman film. The year would close with the return of fan favorite character Static in the pages of Batman/Static: Beyond.
These projects, while well-written and worthy of praise, all share the same limitation: none of them was an ongoing series. In DC’s main continuity, there is not a single solo ongoing series featuring a Black main character. The only current title in the DC line-up that does is Absolute Green Lantern, and again, it does not tie into the main DC continuity. The last ongoing mainline title led by a black character was I Am Batman by Academy Award-winning writer John Ridley, centering on Timothy “Jace” Fox. This series concluded after 18 issues on February 14, 2023. Since then, DC has relied almost exclusively on mini and limited series for its Black characters, leaving fans to ask “why?”
This has led to a segmentation within the comics world with a not-so-small contingent of so-called ‘fans’ defending the lack of Black-led main continuity ongoings with the predictable response of: “Black-led books don’t sell.” But the argument doesn’t hold up under scrutiny outside of the “Big Two”, referring to both Marvel and DC Comics. A perfect example is Sebastian Jones of Stranger Comics, who recently completed another highly successful Kickstarter that raised over six figures. That continued success has led to a partnership with Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions to adapt his series The Untamed into a live-action project. When asked his thoughts on “Black-led books don’t sell”, Jones said:
In 2009, nearly every publisher I pitched to told me, ‘Black comics don’t sell.” So I started Stranger Comics. Seventeen years later, here we are creating comics—where the love of story, depth of character, and great art are nurtured, cared for, and prioritized above all else. I can tell you—Black comics do sell.
The issue isn’t demand, it’s DC’s structure. Their biggest shortcomings fall in three core areas: a lack of promotion, a lack of market transparency, and a lack of opportunity. When it comes to promotion, Black-led titles are not marketed with the same consistency or intensity as flagship characters like Batman or Superman. This imbalance directly impacts visibility and, by extension, sales.
When it comes to the direct market, the comic book industry still relies heavily on a preorder system where sales are determined before a reader ever picks up an issue off a shelf in their LCS. Many fans, even dedicated “Wednesday Warriors,” had no idea this was the case. Publishers have left this information in the hands of the comic store owners to dispense to their customers and have remained in a position of plausible deniability.
The challenges extend beyond the single-issue format, especially when it comes to digital formats. Younger fans, especially, have been enjoying the experience of digital formats such as platforms like Webtoon, or even the platforms designed by DC and Marvel with DC Universe Infinite and Marvel Unlimited. However, when it comes to things like Marvel Unlimited’s Infinity Comics, creators who have written for these platforms have expressed that the views for digital issues are not considered the same as single-issue sales, which illustrates a lack of faith in these platforms as viable sources for fans to read comic books. Meanwhile, digital storefronts remained fragmented. Comixology’s assimilation into Amazon eliminated consumer trust, while newer platforms like Global Comix, Neon Ichiban, and Sweetshop are still developing their footing. There is no centralized, trusted system for tracking digital sales performance, which allows publishers to ignore these data points in favor of pushing the physical singles market over the growing digital one.
Collected editions present another missed opportunity. Trade paperbacks are seen as more affordable and accessible to many readers, and especially to parents of younger readers. Yet many Black-led titles are canceled before they can even reach their first trade volume. Publishers cite low sales without accounting for audiences who support these titles in different ways.
Finally, when it comes to opportunity, the constant reliance on mini-series prevents meaningful sales data from ever forming. Without sustained runs, there’s no way to evaluate growth, retention, or long-term audience engagement. These characters aren’t failing; they’re never being given a chance to succeed.
DC’s approach to public relations only compounds the problem. Compared to publishers like Image Comics or BOOM! Studios, DC’s social media presence lacks consistency and urgency. Key initiatives often receive little if any support. A perfect example of this is the case of The New History Of The DC Universe: The Dakota Incident, where co-writer and former Milestone editor Joseph Illidge, alongside Stephanie Williams, Morgan Hampton, and Nikolas Draper-Ivey, led a grassroots campaign to promote the book. Illidge even funded a promotional trailer out of pocket for the release, but DC’s official social channels never shared it. On the same day of its release, however, those same platforms actively promoted the return of the Vertigo Imprint. To many, that contrast didn’t feel accidental.
When evaluated all together, these factors create an uneven playing field. Whether intentional or not, the system consistently leaves Black-led titles at a disadvantage. DC often will use this data to point to underperformance without acknowledging the conditions that produced it. One particularly glaring gap underscores the entire issue: DC Comics has never published an ongoing series centered around a Black woman superhero in its mainline continuity. And despite the outpouring of fans urging DC to give that honor to Vixen and to have industry trailblazers like Stephanie Williams and Tee Franklin pen the project, it has seemingly fallen on deaf ears. “That’s too risky, how about 5 more Batman titles?” has become less of a joke and more of an expectation.
So what can DC Comics do to address this? Well, if you ask the members of the #DCSoWhite movement, it is quite simple:
- Launch 1-3 titles in DC’s mainline continuity with strong creative teams to give them the best chance
- Properly promote these series in the same methods used for characters such as Batman and Superman
- Give these titles immunity from cancellation for 18-24 months in the same vein as Batman and Superman, so that fresh data can be gathered on their sales from multiple avenues like digital and collected editions, not just single issue preorders
With these three simple steps, DC can give these titles the best chance of success in the eyes of fans and end what many perceive as unfair treatment, which, in reality, is just negligence and risk-averse sales tactics. While DC stands for Detective Comics, to many, it stands for “Discrimination Comics,” and an easy search on social media will show that this has been a trend for the past few years due to the actions, or lack thereof, by the publisher. On dcsowhite.com, where the days since DC gave an ongoing title in their main continuity to a Black character are listed, a quote appears at the bottom of the web page.
“Escape is impossible until one perceives all of the barriers.”
–Dwayne McDuffie, Hardware #1
If DC has any hope of shedding this image of discrimination in the eyes of fans, they have to perceive the barriers they created for themselves and remove them.
Like this:
Loading…
