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Originally from the Howling Curmudgeons group blog, and appending my own comments from there.
"Countdown" To Change
D'Orazio is bashing DiDio, but she's simply articulating what I think a lot of people are starting to realize, or suspect -- that DiDio's hand on the tiller is stifling creativity and killing morale at the ground level. What I didn't know (because I don't pay that much attention to such things) is that Countdown was tanking in sales. I always tend to overestimate the tolerance of the general readership for crap.
I remember attending two DC Nation panels at Comic-Con and walking out once I saw that no real information would be forthcoming, but what struck me was the sense of awkwardness with all these people there and Dan DiDio essentially cracking the ringmaster's whip. On reflection, the reluctance of the panelists to say anything of substance could have had as much to do with wishing to disclaim responsibility for what was going down as it did with not wanting to give things away.
That's not to say that some good stuff didn't come out of the necrophiliac circle jerkTM that was Infinite Crisis. I studiously avoided 52 at the time but am now quite enjoying reading it in TPB form, fluffy as it is. Blue Beetle is a joy, and Booster Gold looks like it could be pretty fun. However, Countdown is a step too far, too soon, and for Final Crisis...? What next? Final This Time For Sure Crisis? No, Seriously This Time We Mean It Crisis?
I didn't know Countdown was an industry joke either, but I'm not surprised. Also, I'm wondering how pained Paul Dini must be to have his name be right at the head of that.
I like the suggestion of Dwayne McDuffie as a replacement. Are things are bad enough that DC will be looking for that replacement, though? And what horrors will be wrought before that happens?
After reading the Newsarama interview with Dan Didio, I have come to the conclusion that the situation at DC has become so dire that to continue to publically mock "Countdown" would be in bad taste.Much more and worth the read if you're a comic book reader...
Honestly, I do not see the current regime at the company lasting any more than 6-12 months tops. "Final Countdown" will indeed mark the end of an era, an era that started strongly -- if not controversially -- with "Identity Crisis," reached its peak with "52," and crashed and burned with "Countdown."
What were the mistakes?
1) DC is not Marvel.
I'm reminded of that skit Eddie Murphy did about Bill Cosby, where Bill calls Eddie up and tells him what is "wrong" with his act. Bill's sole interpretation of Eddie's work consists of "filth florin filth" -- that the secret of Eddie's appeal is that all he does is say dirty words. Marvel's secret to success was not that they had violence, or grit, or adult situations, or "filth florin flith." Marvel's secret to success is that their characters are, essentially, underdogs. Well-written underdogs, freaks, weirdos and outcasts. What better type of character to appeal to teenagers? Further, Marvel superheroes are not just flawed to be flawed, but have their flawedness organically built into their backstories and characterizations.
By contrast, the serious personality flaws imposed on some DC characters in Didio's regime -- such as sociopath/killer Max Lord, sociopath/killer Superboy, "bad girl" Supergirl, rapist Dr. Light, cruelly unethical Leslie Thompkins, and amoral JLA -- have been superimposed, artifically added, uneccessary. They are "filth florin filth," what DC thought Marvel did to attract readers.
Now, what Jenette Kahn & Paul Levitz understood 20 years ago was that DC was not Marvel. They didn't even want DC to be Marvel. Instead, they concentrated on how to make the company even more unique. And that produced "Watchmen," Vertigo Comics, "The Dark Knight Returns," and a lot more.
2) Failure to nurture Editors internally.
Of course, this point goes back to before Didio, back when DC let Axel Alonso get away.
But there has been a similar failure to make the extra effort to retain a good editor over the last few years that I think has directly impacted the company at present. I think the reasoning behind this poor decision and the motivating factor to do what was done instead was again DC trying to "be" Marvel.
Further, I would hazard to guess that this poor decision had a devastating eventual impact on "Countdown."
The irony is that it was exactly Alonso's contribution to Marvel -- Marvel Knights, Marvel MAX, and the whole line of more "adult" titles -- that Didio was, in my opinion, trying to emulate.
And then there is the separate set of rumors relating to how specifically Assistant and Associate Editors are nutured (or not) at DC. Eyebrow-raising, to be sure -- but since I have only heard this second-hand, I'm not getting into details.
However, I will say that assistants are the backbone of any editorial department. If they do not feel that they have a future with the company in terms of promotabilty, etc., how does that effect their morale?
And if their morale is low, if they are not rewarded for new ideas & innovation, how does it effect, at least unconsciously, their work? I mean, it's not like they get paid a crapload of money. The days of "doing it for the love of comics alone?" Over.
D'Orazio is bashing DiDio, but she's simply articulating what I think a lot of people are starting to realize, or suspect -- that DiDio's hand on the tiller is stifling creativity and killing morale at the ground level. What I didn't know (because I don't pay that much attention to such things) is that Countdown was tanking in sales. I always tend to overestimate the tolerance of the general readership for crap.
I remember attending two DC Nation panels at Comic-Con and walking out once I saw that no real information would be forthcoming, but what struck me was the sense of awkwardness with all these people there and Dan DiDio essentially cracking the ringmaster's whip. On reflection, the reluctance of the panelists to say anything of substance could have had as much to do with wishing to disclaim responsibility for what was going down as it did with not wanting to give things away.
That's not to say that some good stuff didn't come out of the necrophiliac circle jerkTM that was Infinite Crisis. I studiously avoided 52 at the time but am now quite enjoying reading it in TPB form, fluffy as it is. Blue Beetle is a joy, and Booster Gold looks like it could be pretty fun. However, Countdown is a step too far, too soon, and for Final Crisis...? What next? Final This Time For Sure Crisis? No, Seriously This Time We Mean It Crisis?
I didn't know Countdown was an industry joke either, but I'm not surprised. Also, I'm wondering how pained Paul Dini must be to have his name be right at the head of that.
I like the suggestion of Dwayne McDuffie as a replacement. Are things are bad enough that DC will be looking for that replacement, though? And what horrors will be wrought before that happens?
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Date: 2007-08-27 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-08-28 03:16 pm (UTC)