Dan DiDio has left DC

[Nostalgiabuff]

I would not be surprised to see Geoff Johns given some sort of overseer role similar to Kevin Feige's at Marvel. Someone calling the shots to coordinate the comics, tv, and movies. Something Marvel is obviously very good at, and DC notoriously bad.
And something Didio never seemed to get a handle on. Looking at what was successful in DC projects and continuing or capitalizing in that direction. His constant attempts to reinvent the wheel only polarized and alienated the readership.

wasn't it announced that JJ Abrams was in charge of the movie universe going forward?

[Nostalgiabuff]

Identity Crisis? That was the book that made me give up comics. Awful.

seems like that storyline might be what the Arrowverse is now going to build up to with the introduction of Sue Dibney tis past week

[thunderbolt]

I guess it's time I told you all, it's me! I'm the new president of DC.

I'd be ok with that. I am sure it'd be a better choice than what they will make.

[MRP]

I would not be surprised to see Geoff Johns given some sort of overseer role similar to Kevin Feige's at Marvel. Someone calling the shots to coordinate the comics, tv, and movies. Something Marvel is obviously very good at, and DC notoriously bad.
And something Didio never seemed to get a handle on. Looking at what was successful in DC projects and continuing or capitalizing in that direction. His constant attempts to reinvent the wheel only polarized and alienated the readership.

I would. Johns has been edged out and removed as CCO from comics some time ago and the initiatives he was behind were no more successful in raising sales than were Didio's, plus he has had all kinds of scheduling problems with the books he is writing, something that the higher up suits frowned upon because it affects quarterly reports and projects. They didn't like the decisions he was making and they didn't think he handled the workload well, so I doubt they will rise him up and give him more management responsibilities again.

There's also reports that WB/AT&T wants DC to look outside of traditional comic writers to replenish/expand/replace their talent pool, looking for people who work in animation and television because of the massive sales success DC has had in the book trade (not the direct market) using young adult prose writers on the YA products (formerly called the Ink and Zoom lines when it was announced) because these have sold beyond expectations and the use of the established YA writers have opened doors into more library systems for their books and given them a credibility that has allowed them to springboard into more markets and to spend significant time on the NYT bestseller list and other bestseller lists. This would also seem to be part of WB and AT&T's desire to reevaluate the publishing strategy and the direct market. There is no growth in the direct market and hasn't been for quite some time, but the book trade, and in particular the YA market within the book trade has shown massive and steady growth in comic sales for the past decade, and with the launch of Ink and Zoom exceeding sales expectations in the book trade (even while underperforming in the direct market) and the direct market underperforming as a whole for a long time, they may be looking at focusing their efforts outside the direct market, and since Didio was viewed as a traditionalist with a focus on the direct market, his removal may lead to bringing in of new blood with focus outside the direct market for DC's future. And since the periodical market is dead outside the direct market, and all the growth is in the book trade not the periodical trade, that could mean a refocus on what types of products they feature their characters in as well as where they try to sell them.

-M

[monitor_ep]

Besides the fact that we got the Svengoolie book (that should have been done with the Batman '66 line) I could not get back into the whole collecting due to the resets every few years. DCnU, ReBirth, not Wally West reboot I got lost.

Now I like the Justice League Dark, Demon Knights and Stormwatch but with all these resets I got lost on the Lanterns...

[PNGwynne]

Identity Crisis? That was the book that made me give up comics. Awful.

[powersthatbe]

I didn't like him. Under him, wasn't there things in comics like the assault of sue dibny? An evil Wonder Dog maiming and killing a version of wendy and marvin in the comics? And I recall a version of superman ripping the arm off of a giant character and hitting him with it. Not all was bad under his tenure as I enjoyed many DC comics in the last ten years and continue to do so but I just thought he pushed DC into a uncomfortably violent era.

[jwyblejr]

I doubt they'd do it but I'd like to see Paul Dini take over.

[palitoy]

I guess it's time I told you all, it's me! I'm the new president of DC.

[johnnystorm]

I would not be surprised to see Geoff Johns given some sort of overseer role similar to Kevin Feige's at Marvel. Someone calling the shots to coordinate the comics, tv, and movies. Something Marvel is obviously very good at, and DC notoriously bad.
And something Didio never seemed to get a handle on. Looking at what was successful in DC projects and continuing or capitalizing in that direction. His constant attempts to reinvent the wheel only polarized and alienated the readership.

[MRP]

It's pretty much confirmed he was fired by higher ups at WB at 10:30 PT this morning, he was fired, for cause, for 'fostering a poor work environment' which is tied to a series of recent departures from the editorial staff. It happened suddenly and unexpectedly, as the DC people presenting at the ComicsPro event this morning in Portland found out as they were making their presentation and supposedly cut it short and left immediately.

No word if they are going to replace Didio or whether Jim Lee will remain sole publisher for now, but it has been rumored it is linked to WB rethinking their publishing strategy as a whole and the direct market in particular.

-M

[palitoy]

Not everything he did was bad, he greenlit Art's "Tiny Titans" and I loved giving Jeff Smith "Shazam!" to play with. In general though, I disliked comics under his reign. I hated when he referred to Wonder Woman's origin as her "Little Story" and mostly, I didn't like that DC comics was run by a guy who looked like he ran the midwest's third-largest plumbing supply firm.

[thunderbolt]

crud I forgot he was there now too. Shooter needs work doesn't he?

[Earth 2 Chris]

Or Bendis. Ugh.

Chris

[thunderbolt]

and that new leader will probably be Geoff Johns or Jim Lee. Uggh