1. Set Up DC Comics Entertainment
If DC Comics wants to compete against Marvel Entertainment, then they need to be treated as a separate entity from Warner Bros. Entertainment. How can they do that? Simple.
Separate DC Comics from Warner Bros. Create a stand-alone corporation called DC Comics Entertainment apart from Warner Bros. and Time Warner as a whole. Since Time Warner does own the company outright, they should have the option of holding at maximum 50% of the new company and a provision that they (or any company formed from the merger with Time Warner) don't own more than 50% for a period of 50 years. Time Warner will have permanent worldwide distribution rights to every DC Comics-based property created and released prior to the spinoff, including the films, television series, animated releases, and new media productions and will continue to be the publisher of the comics in traditional formats.
The other 50% should be independently-owned by people that actually know comics, i.e. creators. This new company could be free to develop DC Comics properties into media productions without the direct oversight of Warner Bros and get third-party companies to co-produce and distribute them. For example, DCE could develop a new Green Lantern Corps film for Universal Pictures or, along with Universal Media Studios, a mini-series for Sci-Fi, which would be a co-production of DC Comics Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. DCE could also develop 100 Bullets as a weekly series, get a high-profile producer to helm it, and create a bidding war between the premium cable networks (HBO, Showtime, Starz, and the new Viacom-owned channel) or edgier basic cable networks like Spike TV, TNT, AMC, or FX, which the highest bidder will get the series and domestic distribution rights.
And while I'm on the subject of television productions . . .
2. Develop Projects For Television (and Not Just Animation)
The one area Marvel isn't excelling in is television productions. Sure, they have a truckload of animated shows in production (for the first time since the 1990s, there will be more Marvel cartoons than DC Comics cartoons on the air), but they haven't produced a successful live-action series since The Incredible Hulk. Not that they haven't tried. It's just that a generic X-title like Mutant X and Blade didn't really catch on with the viewers.
DC Comics could create more projects built around their libraries of titles and characters that could be adapted for television. DC Comics has access to a catalogue of properties that could easily be adapted for the small screen, basic cable, or if you really want to be different, premium cable.
And it doesn't have to be based on one of the more familiar suits. DC Comics has something for everybody.You want a teen-driven Heroes-esque superhero franchise? Then develop Gen13 into a live-action series. You want a horror adventure with a bit of humor in the vein of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Reaper? Then greenlight Crimson. Crime drama? 100 Bullets. You want an edgier Harry Potter-like fantasy? Go for The Books of Magic. How about a modern day sci-fi series? Try Y: The Last Man, Manhunter, or OMAC. Don't try to reinvent the wheel, or familiar characters just for the sake of creating a show.
They should continue to go beyond animation for television ideas, but they shouldn't abandon the medium they've found success in for almost 20 years. Yes, an occasional animated series would be nice, especially one based on a marquee character, but don't create one a season after another ends (I'm looking at you Batman: Brave and the Bold). Perhaps look beyond the big two for inspiration. Green Lantern would make for an excellent series because it's more than just one hero (and you could easily create solo episodes with individual GLs).
Instead of just thinking about short-range movies, perhaps DC Comics should conquer the small screen, an area Marvel still won't attempt to take on in this day and age.
3. Don't Dilute The Brands By Spreading Them Everywhere
Do you really want to know why nobody was drawn to Legion of Super Heroes? Because it was Young Superman and some futuristic heroes nobody really knows nor cares about. I know LOSH fans would pin me to an asteroid for that statement, but it's true. Some feel that the only reason Superman was placed so prominently on the series is because Warner Bros. didn't have a new animated series featuring the Man of Steel after the film. At one point, there were five incarnations of the Superman mythos in circulation. Superman Returns was in theaters and about to come to the home market. Superman was featured in an awful DTV movie Brainiac Attacks. Smallville was a marquee show on The CW. Legion of Super Heroes featured a young, inexperienced Superman. Superman was part of Justice League Unlimited.
You know how the so-called "Bat-embargo" was scorned by many fans? Well, in hindsight, it probably wasn't a bad idea. The "embargo" forced the writers of Justice League/Unlimited to limit the use of Batman villains and heroes to create stories using less familiar ones in their place. When The Joker did appear on JL, it mattered. In fact, they should have a rule in place that there can't be more than two productions (one live-action and one animated) featuring one character unless it's an out-of-continuity one-shot direct-to-video production. Another rule would be to wait at least three television seasons before reintroducing a character to television in a new series. Give the audiences time to actually miss the character.
4. Don't Dilute The Brands By Stripping Out Elements or Making Them Cartoonish (But Keep An Eye To The Real World)
Do you want to know where The Dark Knight succeeded where Batman and Robin failed? Batman and Robin reverted to the campy tone of the 60s series and comics, an era DC Comics wanted to move far away from with 1989's Batman while The Dark Knight kept the characters and situations found in the comics. TDK also explored what each character would do or be like in the real world. The instruments on the costume actually have a function and doesn't have The Joker wouldn't be chalk white from head to toe as he is in comics. Mr. Freeze wouldn't be spouting out lame one-liners in the middle of a fight nor really be so metallic-looking. He doesn't even do that in the comics.
Marvel-themed movies have adapted that rule since Blade came out (you do know that Blade is the first real Marvel movie to make an impact, right?). They didn't dilute the brands by stripping out the core elements of the story nor did they make the characters and situation look cartoonish, but they did adhere to how they would function in the real world. The X-Men didn't wear brightly-colored spandex outfits in their big-screen appearances, but rather leather uniforms, a look that became a part of the comic continuity. Peter Parker didn't build web shooters, they were organic, which also entered the comic universe until they totally got rid of everything JMS added to the Spiderverse.
DC Comics productions should adhere to that rule more than anything else. Superman Returns pretty much resumed where Superman II left off. Though the world had changed in a quarter century since that film was released, the characters did not, and that's probably why many people felt the film was a failure. Meanwhile, Batman Begins created a new continuity, scraping away the weirdness of the original four films, became more real-world oriented, and told a straight-forward story without being cartoonish. Its sequel, The Dark Knight, did likewise. These differences is why more people were craving for a sequel to Batman Begins than Superman Returns and why The Dark Knight came out and The Man of Steel is in virtual purgatory.
Four rules. If they did three out of the four, I'd be happy. But somehow, I fear that Warner Bros., not DC Comics, will screw up whatever potential The Dark Knight has created, and it's a shame. The Original Universe deserves better.
*end transmission*