Who Should Be the Architects of the DCU?

[samurainoir]

Geoff Johns can't be everywhere at once.

Over at Marvel, there seems to be some real creative back and forth going on between their top guys like Brain Bendis, Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker. Characters and concepts get tossed back and forth and gain momentum and for the most part build on each other fairly cohesively.

Theoretically this was what the Post 52 universe would look like right? Johns, Waid, Rucka and Morrison jamming on ideas and concepts and using that as the launchpad for the DCU. Didn't quite work out that way (whether you blame editorial or the writers themselves).

So which writers would you invite to a creative summit and charge with the overall direction of the DCU?

[The Toyroom]

I've made my feelings known on Morrison quite a bit lately so I wouldn't be inviting him....:smiley1:

Johns most definitely would the go-to guy. I'd like to see more from Gail Simone, I think she's got the chops but I think she's fighting an uphill battle over on Wonder Woman. This run really isn't doing it for me. But her Secret Six and Birds of Prey show she can handle the big casts and bigger picture of the DCU.

Mark Waid has been greatly underappreciated by DC lately and has been doing stuff as Boom's E-I-C. I'd love to see him return to the DC on more of a full-time basis. Like Johns, he's good at this stuff.

I also think Len Wein and Marv Wolfman should be given some more stuff....yeah they're old-school but they've been doing work for DC as of late and I think they can still tell good multiversal stories.

[The Bat]

Denny O'Neil.:wink: Or Jeff Loeb.

[The Toyroom]

^ Loeb is exclusive with Marvel still....

[Airdave817]

It would be nice to see Johns, Waid, Kurt Busiek, Marv Wolfman even James Robinson play to their strengths.

From what I've seen, DC has never been very kind to writers. Except for the superstar or offbeat writer...

[The Toyroom]

^ Robinson would be another good candidate....I haven't cared for much of his new stuff this past year but I think it's slowly getting better.

[kryptosmaster]

Just get rid of Dildio. Once you remove the tumor, the body can heal itself.
Rich

[BlackKnight]

^ Loeb is exclusive with Marvel still....


Yeah,.. That Sucks !!! :googly:

I am Reading Hulk & Ultimatium,.. But If I was DC Comics,.. I'd Say yo Marvel,.. We will Trade you Morrison For Loeb Straight Across,.. & Morrison Comes recommended by the Great AquaTroy & TBolt Of the Mego Museum , Who say he is Legendary, everything he Touches is just sooooo, ... Fantastic.... :sarky:

...I think they might Bite .. :wink:

But if that didn't work,.. I'd Fire Morrison , & Pay Loeb double of what Marvel does to get him Back.

Besides,.. Doesn't Johns fix ,.. or have to re-explain most of Morrisons Writes these days anyway ?. :silly:

Wolfman Still Tells a great story... Reading Vigilantee Now...

Simone Rocks on Secret Six,.. & Johns has been god on GL Since Rebirth ...

I don't want to spread the people I enjoy reading out,.. When you do that,.. they start Dropping stuff,.. Case in point Johns on BoosterGold. ... Screw the rest of the universe . :cool:

[johnnystorm]

DC has a number of excellent writers- Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Gail Simone have been mentioned. Jimmy Palmiotti did a good run on Hawkman, great run on Jonah Hex. Even Grant Morrison did a really great turn in All-Star Superman.
The problem isn't the writing staff...it's the blockheaded editorial policies of Dan DiDio. No coherency, no direction. Some of the writers like Johns, left to a free hand turn out good stuff (Sinestro Corps being the primary example). Guys like Morrison may be teeming with ideas, but without a strong editor to reign it in, it runs amok (Countdown, Final Crisis). Even a mastermind like Jack Kirby needed the strength of another to make some sense of the ideas he churned out (Fantastic Four vs. Eternals or Devil Dinosaur).

What the DC Universe needs right now is an Editor-In-Chief, someone like they had in Dick Giordano or Julie Schwartz. There was a lot of creative change under Giordano, yet nothing near the carnage we've seen at DC under Didio. Truthfully, after it's all said & done, just what has been accomplished within the past few years? Alienation of a lot of the fan base, changes for the sake of change- only to see many of the changes reversed within a matter of months, death & destruction of many characters for shock value (and apparently only to be resurrected again?) Why was Superboy killed only to be brought back a year later? Lawsuit issues, maybe,but it would have been just as simple to have him trapped in another universe, lost in space, disappear into time, etc.
Same goes for Impulse. And the Marvel Family. Hawkman & Adam Strange. Legion of Super-Heroes. Teen Titans. Blue Beetle. Many poor decisions & inept reversals.

How much time and money has been wasted by Geoff Johns having to write yet another series or storyline to fix a mess that someone else (DIDIO) thought was a good idea that week but changed his mind after the books came out and tanked? Just think of what a great storyline we could be seeing in Teen Titans or LSH right now if we didn't have to take a COUPLE YEARS away for fixing event driven non-changes?

And doesn't DC/Warner have the resources for testing public opinion? My god, I get e-mail surveys all the time asking me about cel phone preferences, type of car I might want to buy next summer, what kind of topping I like on my sundae at Friendly's? You would think DC could test series ideas or public opinion before unleashing a stinker like Martian Manhunter or a new Atom?

[madmarva]

I'd bring in Roger Stern and John Ostrander and John Byrne and Mark Waid to go along with Johns, Robinson, Rucka, Simone and Morrison. I don't hate the guy like some of you do.

I'd also get JS Straschinski (sic) involved with the DCU proper, probably on a Superman title or maybe Justice League or Wonder Woman if Simone ever gave up the title.

I'd like to see what Stern and Byrne would do with Batman and maybe Hawkman.

I'd like to see Ostrander's take on Aquaman and Deadman.

Waid would be great on the Atom maybe as a back-up and one of the Superman titles

Johns on Flash and Green Lantern and anything else he'd like to do.

[thunderbolt]

Didio just needs to be removed from the equation, replace him with someone who really cares for the DCU and would let the creators create like Mark Waid .

[Earth 2 Chris]

Bruce Timm.

Chris

[CaptainTrenchcoat]

Bruce Timm.

Chris

Totally agee on this. Timm has a real understanding of the characters and their place in the DCU.

[The Toyroom]

Case in point Johns on BoosterGold. ... Screw the rest of the universe . :cool:

Yeah but Dan Jurgens is doing a good job IMO....he's underated.

[The Toyroom]

I wonder how much is left on DiDio's contract....and will it be renewed?

[Earth 2 Chris]

Totally agee on this. Timm has a real understanding of the characters and their place in the DCU.

Timm and his crew took what was great in the DCU and made it even BETTER. And they fixed a lot of "meh" stuff as well. Put Timm in charge with Alan Burnett, Glen Murakami and James Tucker as editorial directors and you'd have the DCU at it's finest. They get the best work out of Paul Dini, Dwayne McDuffie, and the other animated series writers. Keep Johns and Jurgens, bring back Chuck Dixon and give him the Bat-titles. Put Wolfman and Perez on a Titans mini-series. Duh. Sold.

Chris

[madmarva]

Bruce Timm is a great suggestion. He and his team have a better understanding of what's right and wrong (what to avoid) with the characters than just about anyone.

Their Batman and Superman series hit the nail on the head for me and the Justice League series was just as good if not better.

The recent Wonder Woman movie is a great take on the character and New Frontier was a wonderful adaption of Cooke's masterpiece.

As you can guess, I can't wait for the Green Lanter flick that's coming out this summer.

[samurainoir]

One small thing, Bruce Timm is primarily an animator/producer/artist, not a writer as far as I know. The Animated DCU writers do seem to already be in the comic book DCU these days. Wasn't Burnett doing Superman/Batman?

Dini's been strong on Detective, it's a shame about Countdown.

I'm just astounded at how they continue to ghettoize Dwayne McDuffie at both Marvel and DC. They relaunched the Justice League with all the Big Guns and some fan favourites, only to take the "Toys" away and bouncing his storyarcs with DCU crossovers once McDuffie comes on board. Give him access to whichever characters he needs ala Justice League Unlimited, and then leave him alone!

Over at Marvel they handed him the FF, and immediately remove Sue and Reed! I thought the issue that he was allowed to write Reed post-Civil War pretty much made as much sense as he could given the mess that was handed to him. For me it ultimately makes more sense for Reed to have taken a more calculated approach to the Civil War decisions rather than emotional (McCarthyism). McDuffie really had Reed's "voice".

Here is hoping that Simone's work on Secret Six will keep her from being pegged as only a writer suitable for female characters. I'd actually like to see her on The Teen Titans (or even The Titans).

[Earth 2 Chris]

Timm has great story sense, and I'd see him in Didio's role, not as a writer. As I said before, the animated series writers may be working for DC, but they did their best work under or with him. With him in control, we'd see some great output from them, I believe.

The endless crossovers strangle any amount of creativity these people may bring to the table. But as long as people keep buying them (even to complain) DC and Marvel will continue to do them.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

What is it exactly that Paul Levitz does anyway as President/Publisher? DiDio seems to be the head honcho and you never hear a peep out of or about Levitz. He should be reigning things in more than he does IMO. Jenette Khan seemed to be more hands on than he is...

[bobws]

Keep Gail Simone away from my Titans Please! Get rid of Didio! Let Me and Toyroom take his place and use writers who care about characters tell their stories.

[BlackKnight]

Keep Gail Simone away from my Titans Please!

She's Awesome on Secret Six Bro .
I have the 70 complete run of the New ,.. New series of Teen Titans...
Up intill now,.. I have liked the different teams they have had..
Other than Wondergirl,..& the Manhunter Chick,.. I hate this new Team. If they don't bring Ravager back on the book,.. I think I am finally Done.

I do Like Titans ... it's been pretty good since Jericho showed up.

[The Toyroom]

Keep Gail Simone away from my Titans Please!

Gotta disagree with you there....I think Gail would be great on Teen Titans

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think Gail would rock the Titans as well. Birds of Prey had a vibe similar to the classic NTT era. Is Winnick still on Titans?

Chris

[BlackKnight]

Is Winnick still on Titans


No.
He hasn't been on Titans since like Issue 5. .. I think I just picked up issue 10 or 11 ...

[kingdom warrior]

My thing is this if Fans keep buying the Books. Why should Dido leave? Comic books have always been about sales. Especially the top books. I thought DC's direction was a bit of a mess so I stopped buying the books.

It's only when the Big wigs see the sales drop is when and only then that they make drastic changes.......

[kryptosmaster]

It's only when the Big wigs see the sales drop is when and only then that they make drastic changes.......

The only problem with that is they never come back up. Oh, there might be those temporary surges when there's something hot or controversial but as far as I know the sales just keep steadily declining. Once you turn off a lifelong fan they aren't likely to come back and that's what they've (comic book publishers) been doing since at least Crisis On Infinite Earths.
Rich

[Random Axe]

I would like to see a Legion of Doom like scenario where you have an editorial/writing committee that allows the selected few to bounce ideas around and vote on storylines, plots and basic happenings within the DCU. They would, more or less, be in charge. Here's my list for the LoD.

Dan Didio - He's not been the greatest editor, I know, but he should at least be one of the voices that has an opinion and a vote. No more, no less. I think he wants to do well, and he'd possibly reach his true potential being surrounded by these guys. He's trying way too hard to shake things up. He needs to settle down.

Geoff Johns - He's Midas right now and has his finger firmly on the pulse of the DCU readership. As good as he is on individual titles, I think his true talent and vision would come out as he formulates and coordinates concepts for the company.

Mark Waid - He has such a reverence for DC and their characters. His respect for all metallic ages from Bronze to I guess Plutonium now makes him a no-brainer added to this group.

CHris Claremont - I don't know how familiar he is with the DCU, and it doesn't matter. He can streamline ideas and see the big picture faster than anyone. Sometimes having an outside opinion is helpful.

Dan Jurgens - He's flourished as both a writer and artist and brings a unique perspective into the group. He'd represent the talent/creative staff.

Marv Wolfman - You gotta have the old guy at the end of the table wearing a monacle and stroking a white persian cat, so here he is. He's been doing this longer than just about anyone and is still quite active. He's seen so many changes come and go and would be severely important in preventing the same 'ol mistakes.

Scott