Comics have been a part of popular culture since the early 1930s. Acting as a staple in our daily lives, they influence everything from movie franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe to restaurants like ComicX (a diner dedicated to comics entirely) in Arizona. But as of recent, the once-beloved comic industries might not be doing as well as we hoped.

The world-renowned comic industry, D.C comics is under some serious fire right now. They have gathered a multitude of new comic fans from their new comic lines “D.C Death Metal” and “D.C Future State” events, but the problem lies with their hubris. Trying to rope in even younger fans, D.C has started to produce a line of Young-adult graphic novels… to say the least, isn’t going very well. One of the most criticized graphic novels is “I’m not Starfire” by New York Times bestselling author Mariko Tamaki. Fans all over social media are enraged at the failure to keep up with the source material. Goodreads user, Joseph Schultz, comments “Seems super pander-y self-insert-y, etc., This is definitely not Nightstar.” Schultz is obviously an avid comic book reader, Nightstar is a pretty obscure comic book character that hails from the “Kingdom Come” D.C event. She is the daughter of Starfire, and batman sidekick Nightwing. In the graphic novel, the main character “Mandy” is nothing like the beloved Nightstar, this left comic book fans upset and feeling betrayed.

To add to the heat, the COVID-19 virus has also put a dent in D. C’s popularity. The comic industry has fired many comic book artists as well as writers to compensate for the money lost during the quarantine. Beloved comic legend, Jim Lee, was also put under pressure by the sinking comic industry, he decided to jump ship before he went down with it himself. Interviewer, Van Sciver said that Lee will maybe “start his own comic book publishing company or even retire.”

Though this is unfortunate, there is a rumor running around social media claiming that “AT&T has plans to close down DC Comics publishing by June.” (Unknown insider) adding insult to injury. This has the potential to eliminate D.C comics. But only time will tell.