Creative changes and the comic community.

© DC Comics

It’s amazing how this gentleman can rock our comic community right to its foundation.

I figure if you hadn’t heard yet,  Mr. Stewart was at the head of some HUGE flak that has had DC Comics under fire.

On the heels of Andy Diggle leaving Action Comics before his first book was to be published was a big disappointment. (I myself was looking forward to what he was going to be bringing to the Man of Steel, paired with Tony Daniel) Came the news that also Joshua Hale Fialkov was leaving the Green Lantern universe. He was going to be writing both Green Lantern Corps and Red Lanterns. (another two books that I was definitely looking forward to with the creative teams that were announced.) Diggle said it was for professional reasons, while Fialkov had made the choice of leaving because of creative and editorial differences. It was very sad to here but I can understand when a creator says that they have to leave, they have their reasons.

Our community was in an uproar however when we heard a rumor, which was later confirmed as to why Fialkov had left his station in the Green Lantern universe. Myself included.

DC was rumored to be planning the death of John Stewart and had asked Fialkov to change who he had planned on killing, to John. I can understand not wanting to have your name on a book like that when it has such controversy right off the bat.

After reading lots of other community opinions on the subject and realizing that we are a spirited bunch and our opinions can also be spirited, I formed my own opinions once the initial shock ran through and discovered as well that DC has rumored to have backed down on that story idea, after a long day of what I can only imagine as a tsunami of hate mail and hateful comments.

There is something to be said about how powerful a tool the Internet can be. No matter what rants and hateful comments happened to end up in DC Comics corner, something must of hit them to make them rethink their idea. We mustn’t forget that they are a business and with that, they are out to make money. And nothing could make more money then a death. Let’s recall whats going on in the Batman universe with the death of Damian Wayne. Seeing the death of John Stewart would make a POP in sales for them. But I imagined that with Geoff Johns finishing up his 9 year Green Lantern run, ending with a huge bang would keep those sales high. It could be that they are planning for a sudden drop when creative teams leave after issue twenties.

Either way, creative teams have changed and we are seeing Charles Soule, whom is now writing Swamp Thing, will take over Red Lanterns while Van Jensen will take over Green Lantern Corps with co-plotting help from Robert Venditti.

Why I am writing this is not only letting everyone know what is going on. But also talk about the way we follow creators and characters.

I personally, once I find a creator that I love, do my damnedest to find a way to give them my money and support them so they can keep creating. Fialkov and Diggle are creators that I enjoy and wanted to see them take on characters that I also love. I am guilty of this and it took me all day to realize that I shouldn’t get so wrapped up in the tiny details like creators leaving books for their own personal reasons, but just make sure to follow them wherever they decide to go. I need to put myself in the hands of the publishers and hope that whom they pick to take over will do a good job and help me find new, exciting creators to give a chance. Just like I did with Fialkov and Diggle. It’s just easier when they are creating for characters I was always interested in. Now, I am not saying that I will not pick up a book just because a creator is on it or a new indie title they have started because I will always do that. If it wasn’t for Mark Waid (Happy Birthday by the way good sir!), I would of never tried a Hulk book. And that is a book I look forward to every month now. A good creator can make anyone a believer.

One other point I wanted to make is that even though I understand why a creator will leave, I don’t want it to become habit. With this situation, it felt like to me that DC is scaring away its indie talent that wants to create for these characters. If you don’t give them the chance to grow and build worlds for these characters to live in and exist, we will never be able to find the next great story. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder, and Geoff Johns as creators and they are doing wonderful things in their books and I hope that they continue that. But we cannot place an entire universe of characters on their shoulders alone. We need others to take up arms and work with them to create a wonderful universe that we can look forward to every week.

I think I have finished ranting for one night. I just wanted to share my thoughts with everyone and I hope you all can let me know how you feel too.

Talk to you guys soon

-Brett