I agree the standard "kids have Johnny DC" line is a cop-out that betrays a condescending attitude towards kids and an insulting attitude to the rest of us (DiDio's answer to the audience member basically boils down to, "Grow up, you big baby").
DC apparently views their "kid-friendly" line as a way to hook kids on comics in hopes they'll stay around long enough to force the gratuitous sex and violence on them down the road. Nice.
And DC wonders why manga is kicking them around the block several times over. Manga is filling the void that DC and Marvel left when they polarized into grim and gritty or kid's stuff. A very big void. It's not the art style, it's the content. Too bad Marvel and DC look at the surface and not the substance.
As to DiDio's statement about the Johhny DC line, I have Flare and the other Heroic Publishing characters I can read who are firmly in the middle of Iron Age(Current DC) and childishness(Johnny DC)