Asking Dan Didio About 13 Dc Characters

[The Toyroom]

From Newsarama:

Aquaman
Last Seen: On a regular basis, with the cancellation of Sword of Aquaman late last year with #57. He was considered for membership in the Outsiders, but Batman shut him down. His story went in…interesting directions after Infinite Crisis, but we think he’s back to being Arthur Curry (and knowing who he is) with two (real) hands these days…

DiDio says: “Right now we’re giving Aquaman a little bit of a rest, but we expect to see him appearing in one of the team books in 2008. We’re seeing the version of Aquaman that appeared in Sword of Aquaman – the Arthur Curry Aquaman.”

Plastic Man
Last Seen: Well, he’s here and there in Countdown to Mystery and involved with Eclipso, but as for some solo Plas love? Not much since Kyle Baker’s acclaimed and award winning series was canceled. That said, we’re becoming more and more convinced that artist Ethan Van Sciver can’t say more than three sentences without saying “Plastic Man”…so, is anything coming?

DiDio says: “Ah, Ethan VanSciver’s favorite character. Currently, Plastic Man is appearing in Countdown to Mystery, and I’m hoping we’ll do more with him and Ethan as schedules allow.”

Jack Knight
Last Seen: In any meaningful way, getting a happy ending (very rare in comics these days) at the end of Starman. Spottings are very rare, but he did get a brief appearance in Booster Gold recently. But that’s it.

DiDio says: “2008 will see the return of James Robinson to the DCU in a very strong and positive way, and with James coming back, I can only hope that Jack comes back with him.”

Brainiac
Last seen: Superman/Batman #35 and thereabouts, but come on – we want the crazy, deadly robot bent on world domination going against Superman mano y mano…maybe even the straight robot version as designed by Ed Hannigan? Is that asking too much?

DiDio says: “Big problems for Superman.”

Chloe Sullivan
Last seen: Okay – not yet, but we announced back in December that the character from Smallville would be making a trip to comics to join the Superman supporting cast.

DiDio says: “Chole is an exciting character on the television show, and we had hoped to work her into DC continuity, but unfortunately, the stars did not align properly, and even though we had announced it, she will not be appearing in any of the issues of Superman or Action Comics.”

Doom Patrol
Last seen: Superboy wall-punched back into continuity, and then lovingly reinvigorated by Geoff Johns in Teen Titans, and then used by Mark Waid and George Perez in an acclaimed Brave and the Bold story. And next up?

DiDio says: “Keith Giffen’s favorite project! Any time he writes a book, he wants to find a way to put the Doom Patrol in it. As of right now, there are no plans for Doom Patrol – we might be seeing some appearances of the characters individually, though.”

Ambush Bug/Lobo
Last seen: Hey – since Giffen was invoked…’Bug was last seen (for real) in 52 when he popped in to Firestorm’s Justice League, and there was a possible in-continuity (yes, we know that “continuity” has little meaning for Ambush Bug) in Superman/Batman Annual #1. And Lobo? He got a good turn in 52, and most recently appeared in Teen Titans and Blue Beetle.

DiDio says: “Ambush Bug is a question that I defer to Jann Jones, and since she’s not here, it doesn’t get answered. Lobo – he’ll be appearing in a major miniseries in 2008, but not the one you think.”

Demon
Last seen: Shadowpact, and turned to stone. A lousy development for the Demon, but hardly an insurmountable one.

DiDio says: “He’ll be appearing in a major miniseries in 2008, and exactly the one you think.”

Terra
Last seen: In Supergirl #12 - the new one, with dark hair, showed up. She has the same rock-based powers of her predecessor, apparently, but is a whole lot nicer and more heroic. And yeah – this one’s been announced and in the works for a while now…what’s going on?

DiDio says: “We’ve still got the miniseries in the works between Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Amanda Conner, and Amanda should be wrapping that up very soon, and it will be making our schedule also.”

Phantom Stranger
Last seen: Flitting here and there in Shadowpact and thereabouts, but nothing major.

DiDio says: “As much as Vertigo tries to take him from us, we’re going to hold on to him as tight as we can. We’ve done a lot of projects examining the mystic side of the DC Universe, and it’s hard to tell a story about the mystic side without the Phantom Stranger.”

Warlord
Last seen: The final issue of the ill-fated restart of the character with Bruce Jones writing. It was a touch disjointed and sudden, and storylines weren’t wrapped up. Kinda…messy.

DiDio says: “Unfortunately no plans for Warlord right now. That’s a book that after a period of time, I think we should revisit again. I think that Travis Morgan is one of the stronger later creations in the DC Universe, and had an incredible run, and boy, would I love to see that character in all his glory again.”

Secret Six
Last seen: Disbanded after their run in with the ladies of Birds of Prey back in issues #104-#106. Not to mention that Knockout died in #109, and Deadshot and Catman were taken to the Salvation Run planet.

DiDio says: “You know, Gail Simone loves the Secret Six, and if Deadshot and Catman ever get off the Salvation Run planet, I’d love to see more Secret Six too.”

Azrael
Last seen: Well, officially, when he was killed in the final issue of his series, but the body was never recovered. There have been hints of a possible Azrael reappearance in Gotham Underground recently – and also, there have been vague connections between former Manhunter and the Order of St. Dumas, which trained the original Azrael.

DiDio says: “No plans. I know, I know – there was a tease in Gotham Underground, but no long-term plans right now.

Looking forward to much of this....if it comes to pass. Hopefully, they won't screw things up with some of these characters. I'd love to see the one true Aquaman return instead of the sword-and-sorcery-wannabe-gimmick. And James Robinson returning to Starman would just be awesome beyond words...one of my favorite DC characters/series EVER!

[davidb]

I completely agree about Starman. And we know that Robinson's still got at least two stories left that he only alluded to in the series - one where Jack does become Starman again and heads to the Far East, and the second is the Shade's origin.

With the way that DC still supports the book (they've just announced they're reprinting EVERYTHING Starman (including the Shade mini and the Showcase issue) in hardcovers, it really looks like this could be a possibility. As for Robinson - get this man with Tony Harris and let's see some new stories!

[BlackKnight]

Well I personally would love to see a Catman/Deadshot book. Even if it's just the 2 of them. It's a pitty , no one asked him if he was gonna Screw the Bat Though...

& I thought the "Water Handed" Aquaman was great. It was great for the character, after the whole act with his hook hand.

[thunderbolt]

Surprised Didio didn't say he was going to kill them all. When are he and Quesadilla going to be wiped from existence by a Crisis or Mephisto??

[ctc]

>When are he and Quesadilla going to be wiped from existence by a Crisis or Mephisto??

I've been trying; but Mephisto won't return my calls. You'll know I got through when the heads of everyone who ever appeared on "American Idol" explode, "Scanners" style.

Mmmmm.... brain stew.....

Don C.

[Airdave817]

Starman! That's the one name on that list that jumps right out.

I'd like to see Arthur Curry back as Aquaman.

The few issues of Justice League I picked up that Plastic Man was in were a delight to read. Although, I must admit I'm a Ralph Dibney/Elongated Man fan. I would have loved to see a mini-series featuring Plas and Ralph. Come on, admit it you would too. Plas mercilessly tormenting Ralph and Sue. It would be cool to see how extremely opposite the two of them are. Ah, I can dream.

I have almost every issue of Starman. There's a few empty spots in around the 20's - temporary insanity is the only way to explain it...But I have a seperate stack of Time Past and Talking With David stories.

Was it issue 72 when Ted and The Mist fought to the end? I picked that issue up just a few weeks after my Dad passed away. My wife was wondering why I was crying over a comic book until I told her.

Hopefully, there are more than just a couple of stories for James Robinson to come back with. But lets not bring him back just to kill him, his wife or kids, or because Courtney's been killed. Let's bring him back to tell some cool stories.

...At least that's what I'd want...

[fumetti]

One Year Later really screwed up a lot of books.

So far, Didio's big "stamp" on the DCU is to take away all the classic characters we love. Thanks, Didio, fer nuthin'.

[palitoy]

I'm not feeling the love for the DCU I hoped to after the Crisis, in fact I feel like it's in perpetual Crisis now.

[EMCE Hammer]

I'm not feeling the love for the DCU I hoped to after the Crisis, in fact I feel like it's in perpetual Crisis now.

I'm completely lost. I swore off all DC except Jonah Hex right after Superboy Prime went berzerk. I miss the books, and I actually stood in front of the DC section of my comic book store for quite awhile a couple of weeks ago thinking I would get back in. I just couldn't pull the trigger. I used to buy most of the Batbooks, Gl, GA, and JSA titles, but none of them really grabbed at me. I think a lot of it has to do with how little faith I have that they won't just keep making things more convoluted and confusing. Now I hear Gog is on the scene. There's no coherent vision of the DC universe IMO. Until I can ground myself on a stable foundation, I'm going to stay away. The constant state of flux just drives me bananas. I hate Dan Didio.

[fumetti]

There's no coherent vision of the DC universe IMO.

That said it all.

It remains to be seen, but I'm suspecting this is a worsening situation because Didio DID have a vision for the DCU--and the fans bucked on him.

All those replacement characters are disasters sales-wise.

DC has an existing audience that prefers one set of characters. But DC wants to sell more comics than that finite group are able/willing to buy. So Didio changes a bunch of characters hoping to find a version that will attract new readers/consumers.

But he's still trying to sell those new revamps to the SAME audience as before. DC's doing nothing to get those "new" characters out where people who don't go into comic shops will find them.

Didio might be hoping to attract new readers once these characters get collected in TPBs sold in bookstores. That's a mighty big gamble. If you are not a comic buyer and don't like what you see with the Ray Palmer Atom, why would you jump on the nearly identical Choi Atom? Or Artie-Joe Aquaman? Or Bart-Flash?

DC doesn't have a clue who's buying their comics and what they want.

All Didio knows is that he wants someone ELSE to buy their comics. They don't want me anymore. It's a hard truth to accept. I've been buying and defending DC since 1974 or so. I'm a lifer.

And I'm really, really sad these days...

[BlackKnight]

I am still able to enjoy My Little Books just fine without the "Bigger Picture" stuff. Batman, JLA & The Green Lantern books, as well as the Sinestro's Corps arc was fine for me, & a Great read. With the one yr later crap though,, I feel it screwed up Me Teen Titan book real Bad. Nothing's the Same for me, Conner's dead, & everyone seems to be just jumping in & outta the book. The Gel that held the book it together for me,.. just seems odd & is not there sometimes.

[The Toyroom]

For the most part I think OYL was a waste of time...nothing seemed to stick. The new Atom, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, J'onn J'onzz were all mediocre at best. Existing titles didn't fare much better either. I agree with the Teen Titans...putting in too many characters that nobody had a connection to or cared about didn't help the team. Geoff Johns leaving the book was another nail in the coffin. Now they've handed an adult "Titans" book to Judd Winick, which just about seals the franchise's fate unless someone can do a complete turnaround and get it back on track. Having Dan DiDio actually edit the Teen Titans book doesn't sound too promising (doesn't he have more constructive things to do?).

I think a lot of "distaste" for the DC Universe can be traced back to "Identity Crisis" when Sue Dibny was raped, killed and burned...tarnishing everyone's memories of the once-glorious Silver Age. "Infinite Crisis" only made matters worse...Superboy ripping arms off people and Black Adam punching through Psycho-Pirate's face was uncharacteristic of the DC Universe. Once they tried to be "edgy" like Marvel, everything went to hell in a hand basket across the board.

Yes, some titles like Green Lantern and Booster Gold can be read by themselves and enjoyed without having to read the rest of the DCU (coincidentally they're both written by Geoff Johns). Brave and the Bold is another fun read.

But the Universe as a whole is suffering with these weekly series ("52" and "Countdown") leading to...nothing apparently. Well "Final Crisis" is coming and hopefully Grant Morrison can pull a rabbit out of his arse and turn things around and make them fun again. But it's taken us 4 YEARS to get to this point since "Identity Crisis" started the ball rolling. That's a long time of uneven story-telling to get to "Final Crisis" which is supposed to be the "final" word and "fix" everything.

Oh...and bringing back the Multiverse was a mistake. I would have loved for them to bring back the Multiverse like it was. But instead they gave us a multiverse that was "like" the original but not the same. Earths filled with cookie-cutter dopplegangers that nobody cares about. If you're going to bring back EARTH-2, bring back EARTH-2...not something that looks like Earth-2 and sounds like Earth-2 but when you get close and SMELL it, it smells like crap!

[namtab29]

i get the feeling Didio doesn't know which Aquaman he's talking about, and neither does Newsarama.

i'm betting/hoping that Classic Aquaman being part of the Mattel SF toy line makes DC get in line and return Aquaman to being Arthur Curry, founding JLA member, former King of Atlantis, etc...

rob!

[fumetti]

Oh...and bringing back the Multiverse was a mistake. I would have loved for them to bring back the Multiverse like it was. But instead they gave us a multiverse that was "like" the original but not the same. Earths filled with cookie-cutter dopplegangers that nobody cares about. If you're going to bring back EARTH-2, bring back EARTH-2...

It is totally unnecessary to (1) limit the multiverse at 52; and (2) squander those universes on ELSEWORLDS titles.

DC can publish the "Gotham By Gaslight" sequels forever without problem. Nothing is gained by taking up one of the "multiverse."

And yeah, Didio managed to screw up the new multiverse, too.

[The Toyroom]

Right...technically the multi-verse should be unlimited as to the number of earths it contains. That's the whole point of a multiverse...not a fifty-twoiverse.