A number of years ago, Eric Bischoff (you know, there's actually alot of common ground between comics and pro wrestling when you think about it.) wrote a book called Controversy Creates Cash. Essentially, his thought that was by being controversial, in your face, you kept people interested and made money. You know, it worked. While his empire in WCW eventually imploded (for a variety of reasons), the entire Monday Night Wars saga proved Bischoff's phrase.
That's the attitude that's behind what's wrong with comics today, all of it. We know that DC looked at Marvel's success with "One More Day" and learned the lesson that "controversy creates cash". People got angry, protested Marvel, blogged in great anger. Yet, sales went... up. I'm not sure if it was all those angry bloggers showing themselves to be hypocrites (I'll never read another Marvel book! Ooooh, all right, I will), or if it was simply new readers who got drawn into things. That's what DC is aiming for, and it may well work. I know initial sales have been strong.
The issues with the depiction of women? It's all part of the same tapestry. More severe than any complaints about exiling the JSA to Earth-2 or the like, but a part of the same process. Slutfire has gotten more attention in a few panels than any version of Starfire has in how long? It's created buzz.. it's created news. It's created attention. The question is... will it create sales? My sad suspicion is, yes. I'm sure there will be a fair number of people who will not purchase the book. However, I also feel that more will buy the book.
The only answer that will make the people in DC sit up and pay attention is to not buy those books. Enraged blog posts? Those are good to their mind. They create more buzz, more attention, and in the end, more money. Only when they look up and see their bottom line shrinking will they consider this to be a bad thing.
(also, if you think that only comics are going this way, here's a thought provoking article I saw yesterday: http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/30/opinion/stepp-bunny-tv/index.html )
