Dan DiDio OUT at DC Comics
 

https://i.ibb.co/3zJmZwL/a-HR0c-Dov-...Rpby5qc-Gc.jpg

There's hope, yet.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...lisher-1280488

WHAT? Wonder why? I am just glad he got the golden parachute. I HATE this guy as much as you HATE Geoff Johns! I finally got this after years!



Now lets hope JLI characters, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon get better respect, and no more reboots every five years. *Looks at 5G*

There is still the terrible possibility that they could swap in Geoff Johns, though...

Bendis is coming

So in 2020, what is the "in-universe" legacy of The New 52 experiment?

I like his work with Hal Jordan and Wally West. At many events Johns did substitute for Didio alongside Lee because Didio did not go over well with audiences and putting Johns out there it was better received. That being said I know where you are coming from. I would be okay with the switch, but we do need someone who is passionate about comics and worked their way up in the business. Dan had no experience before getting a high profile job at DC in mid 2002. I prefer writers or artist not random media executives moving over to the left. Most of what I like or characters I like Dan had a distaste for so there was always that natural bitterness. He was also disrespectful to myself and other when asking a question at a panel.

Its just, why now? If its DC employees leaving in high numbers because of him, that happened at least twice before, around 2009 and then again in 2012.

Probably just comes down to sales being way down. Alienating workers and coming up with new hokey, tired event ideas were probably secondary.

I don't want to get too excited because we don't know their next move. Whether it's giving it to Johns, Bendis, or just some random black, lesbian woman who believes there isn't enough social justice in DC comics to check all the right boxes... a lot can go awry in the days ahead.

Oh I didn't know you had a thread about this - I just started one as well. My take on it is that it's not good news, given all of the circumstances surrounding what's been going on in the industry and with DC, their lost sales and the upcoming 5G thing that people are largely up in arms about.

The guy has nearly two decades there....

???
Stan Lee wrote hundreds of comics, created dozens of classic characters with staying power than inspired generations, and was a people person. Dan Didio had no comic industry experience, his first writing gig was canceled in six months, due to his TV production expeirence he moved it not editorial and made many bad decisions, upsets fans at conventions with his demeanor and is very disliked in the work place openly and secretly. There is no comparing those two. Not at all!

Most of which could probably be pinned on him.

And for most of them he's been running it as a tyrant, pushing out legendary talents and forcing event after event.

I apologize for my overactive excitement at the news. I am always civil and thoughtful in my discussions and try to be positive. The hatred directed towards a person who I find polarizing and has off put me for years was uncalled for.

I was making a comparison of figure heads and tenure. Not of merit and virtue. :roll:

You clearly have some angst towards DiDio. I'm not as vested in DC stuff. The closest true "vestment" for me is what I've thrown into my Green Lantern collection and that's only expensive once you get deep into the Silver Age. Anything else from DC for me is cherry picked - Jim Lee's Batman and Superman run, Frank Miller stuff. I'll buy DC books but I normally need the excuse of a helluva event or a truly high end creator on book. Their animated products put Marvel's to shame.

Well I am and let me assure you, that man is a true piece of sh**, through and through. All of the terrible decisions at DC over the past 20 years I could point to, he was at the forefront of every one. Smiling with that sh**-eating grin. Giggling, even. I've seen him so many times here in Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con and San Diego Comic Con at the mic that that damn giggle is stuck in my head. The way he dismissively talks to the fans, the way he answers (or doesn't) their questions... he's something else, man.

If Geoff is the trigger man ruining and retconning everything he touches and atrophying every series he writes with his own inane events, Didio is the guy who enabled him and protected him. He created him as we know him and, for a time, made him unstoppable.

The reason I had such venom towards him is my investment in DC comics and the way he spoke to me and fans when I interacted with him at various panels at Heroes Con. Asking about the bait and switch of Dick and Barbara's engagement he told me, " I will keep them a part with the jaws of life while I am here.". Asked about after the success of Wally's run, could we see Wally active along side Barry or allow Wally be the premiere Flash? He laughed and suggested that I look forward to Barry being made as interesting as Wally.

Think of how controversial a female 5th Turtle is and how it bombed. Then think of how Jeinnka does not have much development and is bland with a round about way of mutating. Did I and many others raise hell? No we gave Tom, Kevin, and Bobby a chance and were open to it even if not something we want. It is like Andrew mentioned that sarcastic giggle at fans despense while some ideas could have been more acceptable even if unwanted if he approached fans better and considered what they want.

Aside from three separate times there was openly an exodus largely because of Didio's policies several times over the years he was reportedly fired only for retraction later.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/11...ed-mark-doyle/

This is actually how I feel about Joe Quesada. Not his personality - he's not the worst guy in the world. But I sort of trace every extremely liberal issue back to Joe Quesada's initial reign as EIC of Marvel Comics.

This is all illustrated by some of the things he said, some of the philosophies about various marvel IP's I've heard him discuss, and a large degree of ultra-liberal-minded processes came out of his reign - and to be clear when I say liberal-minded, I'm not speaking politically. Even worse - I'm talking behaviorally - like no plan, super shapeless BS - the throw all **** at the wall and see what sticks attitude.

So sure I have some appreciation for what you and MikeandRaph87 are getting at, I suppose.

See that's the kind of attitude Quesada had from his philosophies of the characters. He was the "One More Day" guy with Spider-Man who insisted that the character was failing in comics because of his marriage to M.J. He'd go on about how every single worthwhile Spider-Man story was told when he wasn't married and was in college.

Quesada had big opportunities with Quasar as well, but in an interview tore the character up completely warping that character's truth - instead of Wendell being a believer in life and energy who goes with the flow, Quesada minced the words into that the character "lacks the will to win" simply because he didn't like the character. Who knows why? Maybe because Quasar was a blue eyed, blond haired SHIELD agent and Quesada wanted anything that wasn't that wearing the Quantum Bands.

So I get it, man.

Ethan Van Sciver apparently has inside intel that now -- and this isn't necessarily connected to Didio's departure -- if the 5G event fails (where all series end and begin a few years in the future with like a new, black Superman, yet another GL, etc.) then DC Comics itself will be shuttered. In terms of making monthly comics. That'll be that.

Actually let me use that and put it in perspective. In the other thread and this one where I was expressing a sense of urgency about this? This was why... except the correct directionality goes like this:

01 DC has been in publishing trouble
02 AT&T has stated that they have "no sacred cows" in their portfolio. Most reasonable people here should understand what that means in relation to DC
03 The 5g initiative came along, pimped by Didio
04 there has been backlash to it
05 Didio is gone.

So you can see why this is crazy. Because the directionality is not "they were going to do 5g, but now Didio is gone and if 5g fails then DC goes under".

Instead it's 5g was in the works under DiDio to hopefully save DC, but no one believed in it and now he's gone before it even launched.

Big difference.

Huh. Yeah, seems about right. But what happens to 5G now? And if it still breathes, then are the stakes the same? And if 5G dies with him... what then?

Also, while I'm sure he probably pushed it out of a lack of idea and the knowledge that New52 DID (temporarily) spike sales, in history he HATES legacy characters. He made sure and undo all the Wally, Kyle type stuff. Nightwing would be long dead if he'd had his way (for years he had this strange obsession with killing him off).

So when DC did the New 52, I didn't mind at all. I was very surprised that they were renumbering even the Batman book, but I built an entire Snyder/Capullo run from day one on my pull list (I'm a Capullo fan going back to when he drew Quasar - some of the best flight and energy projection stuff you'll see in a comic came out of his pencils there). Not much else appealed to me - I might've gotten back on board with GL for a short while after being burned out completely by the whole rainbow corps stuff years prior, but I didn't hold on for very long.

But New 52 seemed okay man. You know why? DC hadn't done a relaunch in a long time and it seemed like a legit way to dig into the books for the long haul, as opposed to Marvel who was already renumbering books every several months. And so, whereas it seemed like a gimmick at Marvel, New 52 did feel like a legit clean slate at DC.

Then Rebirth cam along and I was never sure why they did it. I ordered the entire suite of #1 one shots from DCBS as a bundle and thought "I'll give DC a shot", but I didn't care about a single one of them. They are all filed away in my collection doing nothing.

I thought the New 52 had actual merit. But anything after didn't mean much to me. And on that note - it was Joe Quesada who started the renumbering craze, by the way. He did under the guise that the years of continuity was a barrier to readers. But yet no one has ever fessed up to how the relaunches have made that barrier impossible. Even I have a hard time keeping track of what Iron Man volume is what nowadays, and I'm a bonafide, published "Iron Man Expert" lmao!

DC at least held on to their core values longer, but this 5G thing is going to crash. People hated SJW Marvel and the market share tanked. If you ask me, my guess is that people are going to walk from DC in droves and not check it out in the first place. I also am guessing that DC will try to move Jim Lee up to publisher, but I'll be surprised if he wants to stay on the sinking ship, unless he has a clear vision for what to do. So 5G won't die with DiDio, but I do think that DC as we know might die with 5G. Seriously, I'm not catastrophising, but rather the signs for this are all there.

Because N52 was a dumpster fire in the eyes of traditionalists, sales were in the toilet, and the characters were all unlikeable

Have to agree. "New52" would have had merit if "Brightest Day" hadn't perfectly set the stage for the future of the DCU like 2 months beforehand.

Remember that time I told you all Disney was considering the purchase of DC?

Lol.

Well... yes, but it's like Apple considering the purchase of Android, or vice versa. The other party has to actually be wanting to sell. And while I can see why WB/AT&T might consider shedding this or that, it's hard to believe anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together would consider selling off freaking Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. But it's very possible in this day and age. Who knows.

I didn’t invent the rumour, lol, I heard it.

And yeah, realistically, DC has been an incredible headache, nobody knows what to do with the characters in 2020.

Star Wars was a juggernaut, now? Its a disaster, save for the mandelorian. Nobody wants to touch it. Superman and friends has found themselves in the same boat- its too toxic, and a mis step can be career ending. Too big, too expensive, to fickle a fanbase.

Dc has had more missed than hits, outside of Wonder Woman and Joker, nothing gas been a legitimate success, despite your claims that Suicide Squad did well, the fall out was disastrous.

This is prime time for acquisition.

Who knows how Suicide Squad did. They posted their budget then reshot like half of the movie and "forgot" to update it. Still, must have been enough to warrant a "sort of sequel" and a spinoff (Birds of Box Office failure).

It was the sales if Harley Quinn merch that got everyone’s attention.
That was it, that was all. The popularity of Robbie in the role, was hard to ignore.

The film was a flop, hence the Gunn reboot.

In light of this Ethan Van Sciver, who had conversations with at a forum I used to visit is following up an earlier discussion about DC layoffs and DC's bleak future. He suggested that if 5G fails, which it will then DC is shutdown as a comics company. I am a traditionalist who rejected the New 52 and would have accepted Barbara paraplegic over the Batman direction I was loving over the New 52 direction. It was darker and hard to recognize in its attempt to be relevant. I preferred the Rebirth concept. The 5G is likened to the New 52. A success of a few months that alienates what you already have in a customer base. Most everything DC has done that I did not like was all Dan Didio. I admit my favorite time at DC after the Bronze Age was 2006 to 2010. Dan Didio was a company executive,but Paul was the head and as soon as Paul was removed the New 52 was developed and Didio moved up to oversee it from behind the scenes. I looked for it to fail and I hope 5G does not happen. However just because of these drastic overalls that I a traditionalist fan who wanted Diduo gone should not be forced to root for an unwanted concept to succeed so the company will not fold. Why can Dan not have been fired years ago and the company continue on in the comic medium without his hair brained schemes.

This is an article on Van Sciver's follow up about previous discussion following Didio being ousted.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/cosmicb...n-sciver%3famp


Where did Jurgens get this idea? I have only seen negative interactions between him and fans in Charlotte.

https://mobile.twitter.com/thedanjur...7Ctwgr%5Etweet


Here is more, he was fired for fostering a poor work environment.
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02...ave-dc-comics/

Never cared much for the comics he wrote, but I am like minded with Rob Liefield on this. He also mentioned that the Didiot got a nice severance package.
https://mobile.twitter.com/robertlie...69213361082368

Dan Jurgens is nothing if not the ultimate company man, and he also exudes class. Frankly I've never heard him say a negative word about anyone under any circumstances. Maybe he actually gets along with the guy, who knows? Lord knows I've been close with a lot of people who everyone has nothing but negative words for and about; sometimes people are different behind closed doors or to a man, even if they have questionable opinions or make questionable decisions.

Kinda like how it's hip to rip on Eric Bischoff with extreme prejudice, but anyone who's actually hung out with the dude can tell you he's one of the nicest guys around. People with really hard jobs up top in billion-dollar corporations don't always make the most popular decisions, and a lot of times there are reasons for that which you or I may not be privy to.

Not trying to go out of my way to defend DiDio, by any means, but I'm sure a lot of people in the business do get along with him.
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Anyways, this sucks if it ends up turning for the worst. I know comics as a physical medium is inevitably - and sadly - going to die out sooner rather than later no matter what, but if DC ends up dying out for the same reasons WCW did - because the wrong soulless corporation got their hooks into it and just decided to sh*tcan it to cut costs - that would be tragic. Hopefully it won't come to that.
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Regarding DC movie "successes", Aquaman made over a billion, I think that was pretty successful. That one might actually get a sequel that's not sh*tty, and not even Wonder Woman is gonna be able to say that. :lol:

Didio is being allowed to finish his Metal Men series at the company

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02...-metal-men-12/

Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, the granddaughter of DC's founder, is not happy with Didio's sacking

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02...ler-nicholson/

I've met him many times. I love that guy.

This is one of those "I want to see if I can skin you, then eat you, in a ritual to thereby absorb your spiritual essence and all of your experiences and memories into myself so that we in essence become One Being" kinda situations.

Because he's my favorite comics' creator ever and one of the few people in the industry I'd probably mark out over. Sadly, haven't had a chance to meet him yet. So I'm quite jealous.

I do have a copy of Superman #82 signed by him, though, but I didn't meet him, my Dad bought it someplace.

I did however meet Romeo Tanghal about 6 months after Kyle Rayner's run on Green Lantern started, though. True story, he and my Dad both had massive heart attacks around the same time and were roommates in the hospital. My Dad told him I was a fan so he asked me to bring him some books to sign, which I still have. He also did some sketches of Superman and Green Lantern on some of those paper placemats they give you. I still have those, too, but they sadly got a little bit scuffed around the edges during one of our many moves.

Really swell fella. Nice guy. Apparently drawing/inking comics is a lot more stressful than one would think, because apparently his incident was less lifestyle-related and more stress-related, at least based on what he said at the time. Anyway, that was a great experience.

Disney isn't going to be the publisher for DC. Not gonna happen - we are so far removed from that scenerio. DC would have to go bankrupt and literally go under amidst a restructuring.

What makes more sense is:
-that DC would go bankrupt
-Investors from Warner Brothers itself would rally and reorganize to buy DC under a new banner from AT&T to save it
-It'd be parsed out as a separate entity under LLC and eventually resume publishing.

Hope not. Getting rid of Didio seems like a good idea... as long as somebody good is brought up to replace him.

5G always sounded like a terrible idea. Wouldn't mind seeing it crash and burn.

He hates the legacy characters, which is super frustrating, because they're usually my favorites. Nightwing, Cassandra Cain, etc...

This inspired me to make a thread about the blessing and curse of legacy characters. There is a bigger topic here. With 5 G why not let the actual legacy characters embrace it? Characters who are made up on a whim don't work out to take on a legacy. Linda Danvers is better than Jonathan among the many examples where each happens to be Caucasian.

5G is not supposed to involve any preexisting legacy characters, but instead create entirely new and "diverse" ones.

Dick and Damian would have been Batman and Robin for years, if I had it my way. "Return of Bruce Wayne" would have been a big event from the last few years.

Same here. I don't care much for Damien, but it allowed Dick to grow into what it was avoided for him to grow into the true and only successor to Batman while making it his own at the same time.Also, the inverse of the light-hearted/brocading pair. I bought every issue with Dick Grayson under the cowl.

F*ck Damien Wayne.

Would you f*ck Helena Wayne?:)