Superman to go AWOL from ‘Action’
DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio told Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times that he’s really excited by the titles coming out these next few weeks that wrap up long-running events including Final Crisis and Batman R.I.P.
“We did Countdown to Final Crisis and Final Crisis itself so this has been a long story for us. I feel we’ve accomplished a lot of goals and we created a lot of excitement. But more importantly it’s a point of change for us in DC Universe again. And once you know the ending is coming, it’s in sight, that’s when you start getting worked up about what’s coming up next. That’s what I really get jazzed about. We have two really big events that spin out of Final Crisis each in its own way and affecting our key franchises, Superman and Batman. The first thing we’re going to see is called Battle for the Cowl, that’s going to be a book that features nearly every member of the Batman family
“We have a writer-artist team on this right now that’s scouring every book possible to see what they can include in these two-page spreads they want to build of all the characters that inhabit the Batman universe. So it’s a lot of fun for us. I always like those things because it’s a big noisy adventure book. And whenever you do one of those, the level of excitement is always right there on the page. You hopefully have people respond properly to that.”
DiDio revealed that one status quo-changing element will be Superman vacating Action Comics in the near future. The only time he was absent from the book was during the months he was dead and others vied for the right to inherit the name.
“So this is a lot of fun for us,” he said with a laugh. “I think that’s going to get people excited and scratching their heads and wondering what’s going on. In his own book, Superman, there will be a dramatic turn as the hero leaves Earth and it seems like he’s leaving for good. We’ll follow his adventures in space more so than his adventures on Earth, and that’s a big and exciting thing. We’re also bringing back one of the old-time favorite titles of DC Comics, Adventure Comics. It will be back with a new No. 1 and with new stars but old stars at the same time. It’ll be pretty easy to guess who will be the stars of Adventure Comics if you know who the title was most identified with…”
The title was the home to the Legion of Super-Heroes from issues 300 through 380 and with their title cancelled, they are the most likely feature. DiDio stressed the Legion will remain vital to the DC Universe once their current miniseries Legion of Three Worlds conlcudes in early 2009.
God, I hate Dan Dildo.
Doesn't he get that the readership is event-weary enough?
When the sales start to show that the comics that go on without tying into the events maintain steady sales, while the comics that tie into the events have reduced sales, they'll stop. When the main event mini-series are no longer in the top ten comics saleswise, they'll stop. No matter how much you and those you know may complain about the situation, as long as the sales show that most of the buying audience snaps this stuff up like Thin Mints in May, they'll keep doing it.
I'm not seeing the marketing logic behind having Superman leave ACTION COMICS. Do they think people will buy the book because its star has left?
Can I just have one! Stinking! Year! of good, solid Superman stories that aren't tied into some giant event that has to be written by two or three different people and drawn by an army? Can I just have one! Stinking! Year! of good, solid Batman stories where he solves crimes–crimes that aren't directed at him personally? God, I miss Chuck Dixon. Hell, I miss David V. Reed! (Yes, I am old.)
Didn't Busiek and Paul Dini deliver that quite recently in Superman and Detective Comics? Or did nobody notice.
You're right, Goodman, I wasn't even thinking about that. I was focusing more on "Batman R.I.P."
I'm old enough to have enjoyed David V. Reed as well (aside from odd moments of out-of-place banter (I remember one where Batman's asking for an ice cream cone with sprinkles – appropriate for Spider-Man, maybe for Robin, weird for Batman even at that time)).My favorite opponent from that era was the Spook. I know he was brought back as an ex-CIA assassin or something in LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT, and I think he's been brought back even more recently than that. However, I don't know that anyone's really caught on to the hook I see for the character.The Batman of the past fifteen or twenty years has seemed almost to be supernatural. This effect has been accomplished by Batman's incredible knowledge of his surroundings, of people, etc. A frequent scene has been Batman almost seeming to teleport into the path of people he's chasing, because he knows the area so well.The Spook's gimmick seemed to be preparing an area for seemingly supernatural events, that were really carefully planned tricks.In approach and in effect, the two characters could be played as opposite sides of the same coin. Not that this is an uncommon approach to a Batman story – but it's more common to see Batman's sense of justice and order against the Joker's insanity and chaos, or a criminal who lost his parents at a young age.
Chutzpah. Lots of chutzpah.
Okay…I'm all for the revival of Adventure Comics, depending upon how it's handled.But if Superman is leaving Action Comics, even if it is on a temporary basis, who or what is taking over the title???
I wonder if the reason why Robinson might be leaving Superman is because of the space thing. He's been doing a great job setting up Metropolis-focused characters and I wonder if he didn't want to stop writing them because Superman was in space.
I suppose we can expect another Grant Morrison extraviganza – "The Superman of Zur-en-Arrh"The death of his father will make him have a meltdown.He'll have a pink & mauve outfit, and fly in circles until he finds the mythical world of Nih.There he can fight a rabbit with big, pointy teeth.Denny, where art thou?
I love you.
Now I remember why I'm buying mostly Marvels and other publishers, as I drop one DC title after another.
Meh. I say meh. Didio's already angered both Grant Morrison and James Robinson over his plans for the DCU post-Final Crisis. Robinson's leaving Superman, and Morrison may or may not write the DCU proper for the foreseeable future.And I still say we've not seen Bill Jemas and Dan Didio in the same room together… If it happened, it was a trick of the light, I assure you.
I repeat.So this is better?
Okay, DiDi and this bullshit convinced me last week to drop all my Batman books after 20 years of dedicated reading and I had just gotten interested in Superman again because of James Robinson so there goes that as well. That pretty much leaves me with the Green Lantern books so i wonder how long it will be before they drive me out of the DCU entirely. I am an extremely devoted GL fan but they drove me off once (with the bullshit mess they made of Guy Gardner for several years) so I know they can do it again and I'm thinking it's just a matter of time. Oh well, I have lots of manga just waiting to be read and Clamp never pushes me away with stupid stunts.
This was worth firing Chuck Dixon?
I clicked on the LA Times link and was more than a little stunned to see DiDi starring in what looked like the DC Holiday card.Am I wrong?
Well, apparently DC had to do some massive backpedaling in order to keep Robinson on the Superman titles, but they upset his hastily-gathered replacement, whose first name rhymes with Marque, and last name rhymes with Weighed. So now they're looking for a Superman-related project to appease him.Also, the problem with Didio and Robinson wasn't professional, apparently.
I was glad to read today that Robinson is apparently no longer off Superman, but now I'm wishing there was still a third monthly S-book for Waid to write……And the fanboy in me wants the new Adventure Comics to start with #504.