Sunday, March 20, 2011

Dan Didio says..........

From the C2E2 convention:

"Some of the things we've done, is we've actually cancelled a bunch of books that were on the cusp and weren't working as well for us because we wanted to basically have people focus on what we feel matters most right now , the changes that take place in the Flashpoint universe."

Well......that's disappointing. So Doom Patrol was 'on the cusp', and perhaps not yet in cancellation territory. This is supported by the recent increase in sales due to the Secret Six crossover. However, in order for us, the fans, to focus on Didio's new 'project', he's going to take Doom Patrol (and other series) away, so that our favourite comic doesn't interfere in our spending on Flashpoint. What about what matters to the fans?

I'm not sure if Didio is aware of how that came across, but if anything, it's put me OFF Flashpoint. A year ago, I was buying about 7 DC Comics monthly. Once Flashpoint hits, the only DC Comics I'll be still buying are Green Lantern and Thunder Agents (which has had lower sales than Doom Patrol).

But there is a positive from C2E2 - Matthew Clark has moved to Marvel onto a new Ghost Rider series! GR is my favourite Marvel character by far, and I was very disappointed when the last ongoing, by Jason Aaron, was cancelled. Nevertheless, Rob Williams and Matthew Clark are bringing back hell on wheels - Congratulations, Matthew!! Looking forward to see some full issues of EmCee artwork! See Newsarama for the interview.


9 comments:

  1. I had a huge debate with folks on DC Source complaining about the lack of support from DC and how they killed all these books to focus on Flashpoint, in which people simply said it wasn't possible. So there you go. At least, we can say Dan DiDio cut his own meat, since he cancelled his own book.
    And I am not buying anything out of Flashpoint, except for the main title and Booster Gold (since I was already buying it).
    It was curious that DC said Dan Jurgens was on Booster Gold just until during Flashpoint. Unless they are cancelling Booster Gold again, I doubt it means Giffen & DeMatteis are returning afterwards.

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  2. Dididididao is making DC like Disney! Hail Mein Furreh!

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  3. I'm basically going to focus on what I feel matters most right now, and that's not purchase anything to do with the Flashpoint universe.

    Although, I'm curious about why it's being called a "universe". I thought I read somewhere that it wan't going to be a separate dimension / universe / whatever.

    In any case, killing off my favourite DC book isn't going to encourage me to pick up FP.

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  4. DP is a perfectly good series that was just getting going, now flushed away to make room for a bloated elseworlds crossover. This complete lack of vision can't be good for DC's business.

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  5. I totally agree, as I wonder what titles specifically were keeping the main focus off Flashpoint in Dido's mind. I thought diversity was good thing when publishing or distributing products that reach so many people. If you don't like Vanilla, you can have Choclate, and so forth. But this "drop everything so we can focus on this one big thing" attitude is both short-sided and cash flow-prohibiting in long run. If I don't want to read FP, why can't I read DP or other diverse titles? I actually am interested by FP, but not at the expense of other characters. I personally think Geoff Johns and Dido regime, because that's what it ahs become, has way too much power! I liked Johns when he was a writer who actually told stories; stories with endings instead of creating in essence, the true Never-ending story. I hope in some small part, he'd like to go back to that himself, but he's in too deep with corporate, and they know what a cash cow he is. Dido, well, for every good idea he has, he has a bunch of crappy ones, no doubt pushed on him by corporate, so I wouldn't expect anything less from an repentent company man.

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  6. Sorry for the misspelling in places in the previous comment. I wrote too fast. By the way, I wonder what Giffen is working on, or forced by default, to work on now? He's not on any FP stories, so where does that leave him?

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  7. I personally haven't warmed up to the current DP run as much as I had hoped I would. But I think it's pretty ignorant to cancel the book and replace it with a bunch of elseworlds one-shots tied to another bloated crossover no one will care about a year from now. Why not take the year and support an existing book. Promote it. Feature guest stars that will draw new readers and then present the DP as a team with an actual purpose. They're supposed to be the team that handles the weird stuff the rest of the DCU doesn't know how to deal with (anyone remember the Painting That Ate Paris) but they've just been dorking around on Oolong Island for most of the series. I admit I haven't loved Giffen's writing at all this time around - why did he make the Chief so terrible when he could have redeemed the character with a fresh start? why did he bring Crazy Jane back only to not use her? (am I the only one wondering why the DP was evicted from Oolong but Jane stayed behind with a bunch of people she really didn't know?) why does Larry have to be constantly "on"? I mean this isn't the bwahaha JLI! But having said all that, the DP are my favorite team and have been for the last 25 years. There used to be a time when, if a book wasn't selling or a creative team wasn't working, a new team came in to give the book a facelift and spark new interest and appeal to new readers. These days if a book is a low performer, it doesn't get reworked, it just gets cancelled before it makes it past a couple of years. I agree with Dale, there's so little diversity in what DC puts out. Hopefully the DP gets revived sooner than later, and I'll be back for their adventures when they do.

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  8. That's an astonishing comment by Didio. I was already underwhelmed by Flashpoint and now am seriously disinclined to buy any of the new titles.

    Ty. You make great sense.

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