J. Michael Stracyznski takes over Superman and Wonder Woman
J. Michael Straczynski, the Academy Award nominated screenwriter of Changeling, creator of Babylon 5, and former writer on Amazing Spider-Man and Thor, will take over the writing on Superman and Wonder Woman starting in July with Superman #701 and Wonder Woman #601, according to the DC Source blog.
JMS talks about taking over the reins here:
To kick off both efforts by appearing in the anniversary issues of
these two characters is a great opportunity, and a good jumping-on
point for readers.If there’s any other message in this to readers, it’s in these two
characters as icons of hope, that it doesn’t make any difference where
you come from, or where you went to school, or who you are, there’s
hope. That a kid from Jersey with Superman as the icon that kept him
alive for years would one day end up writing the character is as
absoutely unlikely as it is utterly inevitable. And if that’s true for
me, it’s true for you, if you follow your dreams and your passions in
full flight.
No word on art teams yet– one wonders if Gary Frank will stick around and work with JMS again (they previously worked together on Midnight Nation and Squadron Supreme).
Artwork by Phil Noto.
DC is very fortunate to have Straczynski. I wish he'd finished The Twelve. That was one of the best books Marvel has done in years. Sigh.
So that's why Gail Simone is off Wonder Woman. JMS said he wanted it and everyone went, "Okay!"Since Gail Simone is relaunching Birds of Prey (which I haven't read since she left), I'd say this works out extremely well.
Whoa. I am outta touch.But when it costs me almost two gallons of gas to get to the nearest comic shop (and gas is up to $260…-something)…
I hope that's not two-hundred and sixty dollars a gallon. :OIf so, I'll never complain about gas prices where I live ever again.
Arrrgh. I even tried to fix it in another post and *still* messed it up!
Ummm, make that "round trip to the comic shop" and "$260… something"
I'm torn on this. I've like JMS stuff in the past that I've read but Gail's run has been really good so far. Willing to give it a chance.
Well, there go Superman and Wonder Woman from my pull list.
JMS has been on brave and the bold recently, and I personally think the scripts came across… flat, slow, and phoned in. Batman and Brother Power? Seriously? And now they hand him 2 outta 3 "tent pole" characters… That's a bold move.I loved his run on Thor. But I don't know if I could fathom his pacing on either a superman or wonder woman book. As with anything, I may give him an issue or two to convince me otherwise.
I hope he does a better job on Superman & WW than he did on Spider-Man. Norman Osborn impregnating Gwen Stacy, anyone? I also hope he doesn't abandon either series in mid-story like The Twelve.
JMS is a hit-and-miss when comes to comics. When it's his creator-owned work like Midnight Nation (which I rank as his best in any media) or Rising Stars and titles with lesser known characters like those in Supreme Power and later Squadron Supreme he does great. Series like The Amazing Spider-Man started out great but the Sins Past arc and then The Other crossover I was pretty bored with his take on the character, he should have left The Amazing Spider-Man after "The Other" storyline. Then he got caught up in the whole "One More Day" debacle and I read somewhere that after that he and Quesada weren't very good terms and it's possible that is why he left The 12 when he did (or DC offered him a chance to write Superman, a character, that he stated many times was the one character and series that he wanted to write more than anything else).
Not to plug another site but I saw over on Newsarama that with WW #60…0 (I believe) they are changing Wonder Woman's costume (yet again). Seems to be a modification of Black Canary's with the jacket, but slacks instead of black mesh stockings. While a costume change (along with JMS coming aboard as writer) might get some mainstream media attention on a slow newsday, I don't see this as a long term change. There is too much WW merchandise (clothing, animation, action figures, coloring books, etc.) out there with the old costume. When changes were made with the traditional costumes that SUPERMAN & BATMAN wore, they were pretty minor and the characters were still instantly recognizable. Not so much here. This is more than changing the classic eagle into a trademarketable and stylized WW, we've all come to accept that.Personally, this looks like what an actress might wear (and feel comfortable) for a live-action WW film or TV show. As much as I lusted…um, loved Linda Carter in her costume it did look sort of silly, if you are honest about it.