Superman and Wonder Woman post-Straczynski

[Alan M.]

Don't think I've seen this mentioned here yet, but DC announced yesterday that JMS will be stepping down from his writing gigs on Superman and Wonder Woman to focus on a sequel GN to Superman: Earth One.

Given that they were banking on him for these big, year-long revitalizations of these two characters, what do you make of this news?

[ClarkKent_DC]

Yesterday, I dropped Wonder Woman. I gave the new direction a fair chance, but it just doesn't grab me.

And why do revitalizations have to take an entire year, anyway?

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Given that his work on these titles hasn't been, for me, great, I'm OK with it. His coming on the books didn't propel them onto the top of the sales charts and his characterizations of Clark, Dick Grayson, and Diana have been completely wrong. I think letting him continue with his Clark Kent, which has sold well, is better for everyone.

Chris Roberson (iZombie, Fables - Cinderella) on the Superman book and Phil Hester on the Wonder Woman title are good choices by DC. Hopefully, if the writers want to, they'll stay on after the JMS plots are done.

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Well, to be fair, it seems that JMS has had some pretty serious health issues. It may be that his work schedule has had to change due to this and is better served by writing that isn't on a monthly book. Even though his takes weren't mine on these characters, I wish him all the best.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I wish they'd kept Gail on, too -- but her run wasn't selling that well, so if they hadn't have replaced her with JMS, they'd be replacing her with someone else, sooner or later. They have higher hopes for Wonder Woman sales than what the general comics audience can support, I think.

I'd love to see her run continue, though. In my mind, she's the best Wonder Woman writer ever. And I think she's learned a few things from her run -- particularly about the length of the Rise of the Olympian storyline -- that would make a second crack at it more successful. I don't see it happening, though.

Good luck to JMS on Earth One. I don't think I'll be buying them, but I'm glad someone is!

[Chris Fluit]

ClarkKent_DC said:

Yesterday, I dropped Wonder Woman. I gave the new direction a fair chance, but it just doesn't grab me.

Same here, CK. I think I still have the December issue preordered but that will be my last issue.

[Philip Portelli]

To play Devil's Advocate here, if health problems are the reason for him leaving Superman and Wonder Woman, fair enough. But remember he left Marvel for what I'm assuming was a good deal for DC. That left The Twelve, an interesting and complex maxi-series of his own design unfinished, not to mention loading Spider-Man with controversial baggage. And why would he take two of DC's most famous characters on high profile, sure to be stressful "new directions"? Perhaps the monthly schedule was not working for him.

Perhaps he felt it would be easier and just as lucrative to do graphic novels that he can completely control without being in the DCU and give him a higher prescence in the "legimate" bookstores.

Not saying this is so but could be possible!

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Whatever they do with Wonder Woman, I hope the new costume sticks around for a while. I'm not reading the series, but I genuinely like the look.

But when it does eventually go (and I expect it will, sooner or later), we can expect that ten years down the road it'll be brought back for a stint in a fit of a creator's nostalgia -- and be more welcomed by fans when it does. After all, the formerly reviled white costume has been revived at least twice so far.

[Alan M.]

Philip Portelli said:

To play Devil's Advocate here, if health problems are the reason for him leaving Superman and Wonder Woman, fair enough. But remember he left Marvel for what I'm assuming was a good deal for DC. That left The Twelve, an interesting and complex maxi-series of his own design unfinished, not to mention loading Spider-Man with controversial baggage. And why would he take two of DC's most famous characters on high profile, sure to be stressful "new directions"? Perhaps the monthly schedule was not working for him.

Perhaps he felt it would be easier and just as lucrative to do graphic novels that he can completely control without being in the DCU and give him a higher prescence in the "legimate" bookstores.

Not saying this is so but could be possible!

He addresses most of what you're talking about there in an interview with Bleeding Cool, actually:

This is the best time, and the best opportunity, to step back from writing monthlies entirely so that I can focus on graphic novels and minis. While I feel I’ve done well as a writer in monthlies, the books for which I’m most known and which have had the best reaction are the limited series and GNs like Midnight Nation, Rising Stars, Silver Surfer Requiem, to an extent, Supreme Power, which I treated as a mini as I was writing it, and The Twelve (where Chris has now caught up with the script, and now it falls to me to do the last bit and bring this thing in for a landing). With books like these, I can take the time it takes to get the script absolutely right before it’s ever even announced.So for me, yes, GNs are the future because they will allow me to tell better stories. It ain’t about the money. In stepping away from writing monthlies for the next 1-5 years, and doing instead only one or two limited series/GNs per year, I’m taking a 75% pay cut in comics so that I can focus on telling better stories.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

One other thing to consider:

As a writer with a long TV background, I doubt JMS entirely feels like he's abandoning the books. He's probably very comfortable with coming up with a story outline and handing it off to other writers to execute. That happens in TV all the time.

It's not a big part of the comics-writing tradition, but from JMS's standpoint, it probably seems like a good compromise between struggling to get the books out and abandoning them altogether. I think the news stories spinning this as JMS is leaving Superman & Wonder Woman miss this point, even though they acknowledge the detail that the new writers will be working from his outlines.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

"...and now he's leaving the book with finishing the story, allowing others to do it for him."

Or: "And now he's finishing the story with the help of others." Since I'm a glass half-full kinda guy.

Most of the online complaining I've seen about this move reminds me of the old joke of two unsatisfied restaurant customers:

"This food is disgusting!"

"Yes, and in such small portions!"

People who weren't enjoying the story anyway are now complaining that he's leaving.