1. Why?
Official answer: "To tell the truth, I wanted the chance to get back into the business of editing and sharpen up the skills..."
Unofficial answers:
a) He doesn't want it screwed up
b) The run probably has Final Crisis-sensitive stuff in it and he doesn't want it screwed up
c) He has fond memories of the title since he was a youngster and he doesn't want it screwed up
d) He also doesn't want it screwed up
2. If the book sells poorly, does he have to fire himself?
3. If the book does well, can he give himself a bonus?
I picture Dan at the Xerox machine, collating pages:
"Does anybody know what that blinking light means?! The copying just stopped..."
"Try to knead out the paper from the metal teeth with some sort of long implement."
"Pencil?"
"Yeah, try a pencil."
5. What is this obsession with campy supervillains? First Captain Boomerang in Identity Crisis, then Pied Piper & Trickster in Countdown, now Clock King in Teen Titans. Is Sportsmaster still available?
Bottom Line: I don't think DiDio would edit this book if it didn't have some high-impact stuff in it that would effect Final Crisis/DCU status quo. Sean McKeever is a very talented writer but I hope he is given the breathing room to really make this book his own (which has, in my opinion, not been the case so far in "Titans" but has in "Birds of Prey"). And I am pleading for some artistic stability on this title, and the doing-away with a new penciller every other issue; that sort of inconsistency alienates fans.
"2. If the book sells poorly, does he have to fire himself?
ReplyDelete3. If the book does well, can he give himself a bonus?"
I feel this is where comics aren't like a real, big kid business where we in the big kid working world are held accountable for results. Bob Shaye, former head of New Line pictures, directed "The Last Mimzy." The movie bombed and Shaye was kicked out of New Line.
Paul Levitz wrote some shitty book for DC - JSA Classified or somethinf? - it bombed, and he still has his job. Until the Big Two start taking themselves seriously and start acting like companies instead of trust fund kids who can screw up as much as they want and not have their money cut off by their parents, it's going to be a really hard sell to make mainstream superheroes legitimate in the eyes of the public.
My personal 2 cents worth is that DiDio has a beef with the Young Justice legacy and wants the very concept as dead and buried as possible by making sure the company's flagship teen (although surely the lineup is in their early 20s by now?) book is as 'on message' as possible to prevent stragglers on other books getting funny ideas.
ReplyDeleteKENNY: you're a madman - comics aren't a business, they're a magical wonderland of lemonade fountains and candy-cane forests, where cows poop rainbows and wizards oversee the magical process of creation from a throne on high. If comics were ever to be lowered to operate on the level of something as base as a commercial enterprise, the first meeting would go thus:
Actual businessman: "You tied the fortunes of a worldwide multi-billion dollar concern to a single distributor whose reach extends almost exclusively to specialist outlets in North America? Willingly? ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?"
In the interview Didio said there are some Seven Soldiers of Victory stuff coming up in Teen Titans. In a Wizard interview when asked "what is the one book you recommend people read before Finial Crisis?" he said, among other things, Seven Soldiers/Mr. Miracle so....
ReplyDelete1) Maybe it’s DD preparing an employment fall back for when Jim Shooter is named to DD’s current position—in this economy one can’t be too choosy and a paycheck is a paycheck. Besides, it beats being shift manager at the nearby IHOP. Just throwing it out there.
ReplyDelete2) “And I am pleading for some artistic stability on this title, and the doing-away with a new penciller every other issue; that sort of inconsistency alienates fans.”
Amen to that one—two times. I stopped reading Teen Titans months ago but that statement could apply to well over half of DC’s current stable of titles.
3) Seeing the March previews with a Titans book by Judd Winick and Ian Churchill has me depressed in the extreme as I think of how they are going to FUBAR the Wolfman/Perez classic characters.
OS---is there anyway that you can see DC doing a last minute creative reshuffle (a la Batman & The Outsiders)? I thought DC would have gotten the memo given the ridicule and general bad reviews of the Titans East Special but we are after all only the fans.
As much as I love these characters, I just can’t see myself supporting this title and giving tacit approval to their lazy, aimless storytelling.
Cheers,
FanBoyWonder
Excuse me...I erred and meant to say the April previews regarding the new Titans title.
ReplyDelete--FBW
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost as scared of a Didio edited Titans book as I am the new Winick Titans book.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm more afraid of the Winick book.
how bout we just get geoff back? that'd make me happy.
ReplyDelete>I thought DC would have gotten the memo given the ridicule and general bad reviews of the Titans East Special but we are after all only the fans.<
ReplyDeleteThe Titans East Special recieved largely negative reviews? Why? I rather liked it. It was the first time all of the old Titans have ever seemed 'on character' to me.
My personal favorite quote appears right at the end: "I've got so many professionals working around me. It makes my job very simple. Sean on the writing, Eddy Barrows on the art, and our team of inkers…"
ReplyDeleteTEAM of inkers? I mean, right there you know you're in trouble before you even begin.
"TEAM of inkers? I mean, right there you know you're in trouble before you even begin."
ReplyDeleteLOL Elayne, that is classic
with all those cooks, this soup is bound to be delicious!
ReplyDeleteI think it has something to do with Eddie Berganza being overloaded with work, as well (which makes sense to me; I know that at my job, when everyone's overloaded with work, my supervisor pitches in because she knows how to do everyone else's job.)
ReplyDelete>>>>>>“The Titans East Special received largely negative reviews? Why? I rather liked it. It was the first time all of the old Titans have ever seemed 'on character' to me.”>>>>
ReplyDeleteHi Greg,
It is with tongue planted firmly in cheek when I quote to you the immortal “Mr. Warmth” Don Rickles—“That’s your opinion and you’re annoying me.” :)
Seriously, I’m old enough to have read the classic Wolfman/Perez era during the first run going all the way back to the preview in DC Comics Presents #26 in 1980 and grew up with the Titans, so I mean no disrespect when I say that the “character” that Winick superimposed onto his version of the Titans in the Flashback bore no resemblance to the Titans I knew.
It’s been over 25 years and maybe some of the stories are dated (though others were WAY ahead of their time) and they were by no means perfect but on their worst day, Wolfman/Perez could run Kid Flash circles around Winick and Churchill.
It just offends me that these two “creators” who seem to go out of their way to produce flash over substance are attempting to hitch their wagon to the greatness of others.
On the same token, if you liked the Titans East Special, good for you. It’s not for me or anyone else to say you are wrong for feeling the way you feel.
However, you have moved me reserve my final judgment and see how what they produce with issue #1.
I suppose after the Titans East Special, they have no where to go but up.
Cheers,
FanBoyWonder
JohnSeavey:
ReplyDeleteMy manager would never help anyone out unless he personally benefited from it. I think this is common in Corporate America. (Not to mention my manager couldn't help me if he wanted to as he doesn't have the slightest clue what I do or how I do it. I think this is also common. I think Didio is more like my manager than we would like to think!)
Bryan:
Yes. Exactly!! Soooo funny, but soooo true!!