Today’s massive four artist switcheroo is confusing enough—in a world where everyone says they want some stability, tinkering and fine tuning seem to be the order of the day. What touched off this round? Well maybe it was Travel Foreman wanting to leave Animal Man, which freed him up for Birds of Prey which made Jesus Saiz move to Resurrection Man and set the whole domino chain in motion. As he stated at the CBR forums, it was due to some personal issues:

I just want to chime in briefly, because everyone here has been so supportive of the book and because there’s so much behind the scenes stuff that goes on with these books… I read a lot of comics and I too get confused about whats going on in some books and ultimately feel like we’re getting a raw deal sometimes.

The change on Animal Man boils down to the reason I was on the book to begin with, which was that I needed to take on a job after my mother died (to deal with the financial end of someone being sick for a while and then passing) and Animal Man was the only thing DC was going to let me do. Which in any other time frame would have been perfect.

But really the context of me dealing with the death of my mom and drawing the kind of content in Animal Man just burned me out sooner than I thought.

I had hoped to stay on the book until at least the spring so that the artist I wanted to replace me was free from his commitments, but I would have ultimately just dragged the book down if I did, because it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate on the work.

Steve was bending over backwards on his fill-ins to keep the book on schedule so you have to keep that in consideration. Really, he won’t skip a beat once he’s doing the book full time.

Thanks, everyone.

To be honest, we were HUGE fans of Saiz’s take on BoP — his ladies were heroic but still sexy without being cheesecakey in any way. Foreman is a fine artist who does draw sexy ladies (here’s a Wonder Woman of his). Hopefully he’ll keep the heroic aspect of the book.

By Todd Allen

Last week, it was the DC writers getting shuffled around to new titles.  This week, the artists play a bit of musical chairs.  Four titles change artists, three artists switch books and an old face returns to his old title.

Starting off with the old friend back in town, we find Steve Pugh taking over the art duties on Animal Man as of issue #9.  On the one hand, I’m more than a little surprised they’re making a creative change on a such a critically acclaimed book.  On the other hand, Pugh is somewhat associated with the character, having spent not quite 3 years drawing Animal Man in the early ’90s with the first Vertigo run.  And yes, to continue the meme, Pugh did draw some titles like Doom 2099 for Harras-era Marvel.  I wouldn’t consider him a Harras-Marvel mainstay, but he was there briefly.  Seems like an appropriate person to return to the title.

Pugh’s statement of intent:

“For me, it’s awesome to be returning to a book that was such a milestone in my creative life and with Jeff, a killer writer who’s been punching ANIMAL MAN through the ceiling!” said Pugh. “Yeah, I was buying the book already but now I don’t have to wait so long to find out what happens next!”

That takes Travel Foreman off Animal Man and sees him moving over to Birds of Prey for issue #9.  Which is to say, just in time for the big Bat-Crossover.  My initial take on this is to remember Foreman’s excellent work on Iron Fist and think that Black Canary and Katana might have some decent fight scenes coming up.  While it’s a departure from Animal Man, it might not be a departure for Foreman.

Editor Bobbi Chase talks up Foreman (like he needs talking up):

“ANIMAL MAN is one of my favorite books of The New 52, in no small part because of Travel’s awesome art,” said BIRDS OF PREY editor Bobbie Chase. “We’re really challenging him to go against his animal instincts in his first issue; from the woods to the city streets, from a single super character (OK, with family) to a team book, from one small corner of the DC universe right into the big Bat landscape. It’s going to be exciting!”

So that leaves Jesus Saiz off Birds of Prey and sees him moving over to Resurrection Man for issue #9.  (No, I’m not going to make the obvious Jesus/Resurrection Man joke.)  This is just in time for a Suicide Squad crossover!  Hold that thought.

Saiz’s statement of intent:

“I’m going to miss BIRDS OF PREY immensely, although it’s also true that I was dying to work on the Dark line of books,” said Saiz. “There’s some very interesting stuff happening in these books, and I’ve always considered horror / creating dark settings are some of my stronger areas as an artist, and I really haven’t had many chances to flex those muscles working in this genre during my career. So…I think I’m really going to enjoy working on RESURRECTION MAN! Crrrrazy fun!”

Now, where were we?  Right.  Resurrection Man is crossing over with Suicide Squad. And as it happens, when Jesus Saiz took over Resurrection Man, that freed up Fernando Dagnino, the previous Resurrection Man artist, to take over Suicide Squad. To be honest, I kind of like the idea of an artist switching book in the middle of a crossover.  Even if DC does seem to be getting a case of crossover fever.  The subtext is, the Resurrection Man keeps getting killed off (that’s his M.O.) and members of the Suicide Squad periodically get killed off.  Fernando, you may be getting a reputation!  (On the other hand, if you can snag the assignment for the next big “Death of ______” event, there are royalties to be had.)

Dagnino’s statement of intent:

“Call me insensitive but I must admit I’ve really enjoyed killing Mitch twice or thrice per issue,” said Dagnino. “Nevertheless, it all falls into place knowing that he will be in Jesus’ hands now. This run on RESURRECTION MAN has REALLY been loads of fun but now I must confess I am even more excited to take over the responsibility of dealing with such a thrilling cast of characters as the SUICIDE SQUAD. Harley…I’m coming!”

The odd man out in all this is previous Suicide Squad artist Federico Dallocchio.  According to DC’s website, issues 6 and 7 had fill-in artists with Dallacchio back on issue 8.  No word on what Dallocchio is doing next.

By Todd Allen

Joss Whedon started something when he decided to continue Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a comic.  Now DC/Warners is following that lead and continuing Smallville as a comic, with Season 11 set to drop in April or May, depending on which format you want to read it in.

The comic will be written by Bryan Q. Miller, who was part of the Smallville writing staff and ended up as the Executive Story Editor.  He also spent a couple years writing the Batgirl comic.  Miller is as authoritative a Smallville vision as was available and he’s written comics before, so it seems like a good match there.  The art will be by Pere Perez.  Perez was on Batgirl with Miller and has done a few other things, notably some work on the Nightwing and Flamebird Action Comics run a couple years back.

The release schedule has a little bit of a quirk to it.  Weekly digital comic “chapters” starting April 13, 2012 (a Tuesday) and then collected into a print edition starting on May 16.  Offhand, I’d say the digital is there to do two things:

• Trying to find the Smallville fans that are certainly dedicated enough online, but don’t seem to have a presence in the Direct Market.  Cat Staggs is the cover artist for the digital edition and Gary Franks for the print.  Having Franks, much more famous in the DM, for the print comic does speak to different audiences.
• Mimicking the weekly schedule of a TV show.

Buffy started out with huge numbers as a monthly comic and settled into merely very good (for an independent comic) monthly numbers and a lot of trade paperback sales.  It will be interesting to see if Smallville can find similar success.

We also have an answer to an old question.  What will it take to get DC to do a regular Smallville comic?  The show getting cancelled.

Official announcement follows:

Fans of the smash-hit TV series Smallville haven’t had much to cheer about since the show ended its critically acclaimed 10-year run on The CW last May.  That’s all going to change with the upcoming new comic book series from DC Entertainment: SMALLVILLE SEASON 11.  Written by former Smallville show scribe Bryan Q. Miller, the new digital first series will be published digitally on April 13, 2012, with new digital chapters released weekly thereafter.  Additionally, the online chapters will be offered in a print periodical, along with an episode guide to the hit television series, with the first print issue released on May 16.

The new comic book series picks-up where the show left off (with Clark officially now as Superman!) and features other fan-favorite characters including Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Chloe Sullivan-Queen, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and General Lane.  The book features an all-star creative team – in addition to Miller, SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 creators include print cover artist Gary Frank (SUPERMAN SECRET ORIGIN), digital cover artist Cat Staggs and interiors by Pere Perez (BATGIRL).

“Six months after Clark Kent donned the cape and took to the skies to save Earth from Apokolips… enter Season 11!” enthuses Miller.  “New allies abound!  New enemies afoot!  And old friends return where they’re least expected!  Pere and colorist Chris Beckett have done a fantastic job of capturing the look of the show and the players, and Gary and Cat are knocking it out of the park on covers. I couldn’t be more excited to help give seasoned viewers and new readers an all-access pass to Clark’s first year in the cape.”

First came the comics, now come the fanfic toys—Jaunty-Step Rorschach and Sexy Pose Comedian—to be unveiled at this weekend’s Toy Fair, as well as new DARK KNIGHT RISES toys. Not shown—new MumbleTalk Bane with 25 baffling phrases.

DC Direct, the exclusive collectibles division of DC Entertainment, announced today an extensive line-up of new collectibles based on flagship publishing and film initiatives.  Leading into New York Toy Fair, DC Direct unveiled two new collectible statues based on character art from the recently announced BEFORE WATCHMEN, a series of all-new stories that expand on the universe of best-selling graphic novel, WATCHMEN. Prototypes for Rorschach and Comedian statues will be unveiled at the show, kicking off the new BEFORE WATCHMEN product line that will go on sale later this year, exclusively from DC Direct.
 
Also announced today is an extensive line-up of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES collectibles based on characters from the highly-anticipated upcoming Warner Bros. film.  The line includes statues, busts and action figures based on iconic characters from the film including Batman, Catwoman and Bane.
 
“The DC Direct team has put together an amazing line-up for 2012,” stated Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer for DC Entertainment.  “THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and BEFORE WATCHMEN lines are especially exciting, and the team has set the bar high as far as creative execution. We’re proud and psyched to share these collectibles with the world at Toy Fair. This is the tip of the iceberg with what we’ve got planned for DC Direct this year and beyond.”
 
DC Direct product descriptions include:
 
·         BEFORE WATCHMEN Rorschach – 9” resin statue
·         BEFORE WATCHMEN Comedian – 9” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman Icon – 13” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Catwoman Icon – 7” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Bane Icon – 12.5” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman Bust – 6.5” resin
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Catwoman Bust  – 6” resin
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Bane Bust – 6.25” resin
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman Figure – 6.38” PVC
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Catwoman Figure – 6.38” PVC
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Bane Figure – 6.38” PVC
 
Other key DC Direct product lines that will be on display at New York Toy Fair include new MAD: Spy vs. Spy and Just-Us-League of Stupid Heroes products, as well as the complete new action figures series based on DC Comics – The New 52.

You may recall an ongoing blame battle between writer John Rozum and artist Scott McDaniel over the New 52 launch title STATIC. Rozum was the first of the New 52 creators to walk, and revealed it was because of creative differences with McDaniel. Now McDaniel has told HIS side of the story — in a 15,000 word novella that covers every moment of every conference call in minute depth. McDaniel says he has never written anything before, but he seems to have a great future as a court reporter.

There’s a ton of “he said/he said” going on in the post.

Looking back on the situation, I think John simply felt there was nothing he could contribute. I solved most of the story issues to Editorial’s satisfaction, not him, and he was relegated to scripting a novice’s plots. And that infuriated him.

For my part, I am ashamed of being so angry. I am not ashamed of the work I contributed, but of the manner in which I offered it at this time.

And again, I hurled no expletives, or personal insults or insults of any kind. I simply refused to lay down before the master, instead making him earn each step.

You may not be able to get through this blow by blow account so we’ll just agree with Graeme McMillan’s take — there are no good guys/bad guys, just guys with different views.

Reading the two together – and parsing out the passive aggressiveness in both – what becomes clear very quickly is a creative mismatch between McDaniel and Rozum’s sensibilities, as well as a horrendous breakdown in communications between editorial and the two creators; instead of there being any smoking gun of “He Said He Said” gossip or controversy here, it just seems sad and a wasted opportunity all round. Static Shock deserved better.

If you can get through the whole McDaniel piece, there is a lot of perhaps unintentional insight into the state of the DC office during the whole New 52 rollout, such as this:

Again, Harvey and I were very concerned about the sales trend on STATIC. Please recall this topic from earlier in my statement. This historic sales trend is no joke. It's real. Sales cool. Harvey and I feared that, as retailers were preparing to order #4 through #6, if they didn't see evidence of real story momentum and something important and cool happening that would attract additional readers, they would not change their historical ordering patterns and the book would simply slide into cancellation, if not by issue #6, then maybe by #8 or #10. Again, John expressed a contrary opinion. To him, that stuff wasn't worthy of consideration – only story mattered. And he was gonna bring the story.

Again and again McDaniel comes back to preoccupation with sales—parsing CBR polls and Diamond charts for any meaning. (Were McDaniels and editor Harvey Richards privy to the actual numbers, one wonders.) While this seems like anathema to the creative process, it was only common sense—this WAS a horse race and the slowest horses—Men of War, Mr. Terrific, etc — all got shot on the track just like Static.

Is this really where the Big Two gotten to as an industry? A desperate dash to sales at any cost?

Well, I think you can all answer that question for yourselves.

Have you been wondering what digital comics DC has been selling the most of? While you can do a running snapshot of iTunes’ “in app Sales” it doesn’t give you a month’s total. But, as they did last month, DC has just released their Top Ten digital comics for January to CBR. And it goes like this:

DC Comics’ Top 10 Digital Titles, January 2011

#1 Batman (2011-) #5
#2 Justice League (2011-) #5
#3 Action Comics (2011-) #5
#4 Detective Comics (2011-) #5
#5 Green Lantern (2011-) #5
#6 Batman and Robin (2011-) #5
#7 Batman (2011-) #4
#8 Justice League (2011-) #4
#9 Superman (2011-) #5
#10 Aquaman (2011-) #5

So—new comics holding steady.

Of course this chart lacks actual numbers. But perhaps we can extrapolate a little teeny bit here — in a December interview, DC’s John Rood suggested that
But consistency is the right word — especially consistency in the digital end. There has been no shake up of numbers when you look at the percentage of physical sales by title. So if something is selling 6% of its physical sales digitally for issues #1 and 2, then it’s about 6% in issues #3 and 4. And if another title has been selling at 16% of print sales in the early titles, the latter titles have stayed at the same level. So there’s been no fluctuation. And the fact is that the makeup is largely the same and the performances you’ve seen in the data provided is largely the same in digital as it is in physical, yet we know from both anecdotal and primary research that this is a different audience. It suggests that the people might be different [for digital and print] but their tastes and their demos are largely the same.
6% and 16% seem like awfully specific numbers. So perhaps we can except that digital sales are someone between those number as percentage of print sales?

That’s a LOT more than the 1-3% that we’ve previously heard from most publishers. Again, only guessing.

Rood and Bob Wayne have their usual chat in this month’s report, and a subject near and dear to our heart comes up:
People frequently ask – and sometimes this is other people in the industry while sometimes it’s retailers or fans – whether these

numbers on the Diamond charts are the same numbers that actually sell. The argument there is that with returnability and the fact that these are estimates rather than the actual data you have, these numbers may inflate performance. Overall, do you feel this data honestly represents what you’ve been getting back when all is said and done?

Wayne: The Diamond charts for a number of years – ever since we started doing very limited returnability offers on certain projects to retailers could make sure they’re able to stock things like the weekly “52″ project a number of years back – have done a set aside on the numbers in reserve against any returns. So the numbers are depressed on the side of the set asides. We know what the set aside is, and we also then have our data later that shows us what the actual return rate was. And we’ve been very pleased that this has been an effective and efficient way for us to get as many copies on the shelves of retailers around the world as possible. In that ten out of ten, only one of those ten titles on the chart has any level of returnability. Nine of them have none.

Rood: So in answer to your question, not only do we consider the list accurate and reflective of our sales, we think anyone who would question that is kidding themselves.

Burn!

By Todd Allen

*Update* DC has revised their website to list Tieri and Poulton as scripters.

————-

Change is still in the air at DC.  You may recall Rob Liefeld got three new books?  We now know his collaborators on those.

Deathstroke with be a solo endeavor for Liefeld.  On Grifter, Rob is joined by Frank Tieri as co-writer scripter.  Tieri, another blast from the past, is probably most strongly associated with early Quesada-era Marvel, working on titles like Wolverine, Weapon X and Iron Man.  He also has done some DC work on titles like Batman and the Outsiders and Gotham Underground.  Over on Savage Hawkman, Mark Poulton is the co-writer scripter and Joe Bennett is the artist.  Poulton has recently been working on Liefeld’s Avengelyne title over at Image.  Bennett moves over from Deathstroke.  Interestingly, way back in the 90s, Bennett drew a few issue’s of Liefeld’s Supreme comic.

Next up, we have the next arc for DC Universe Presents:

Following the conclusion of the science-fiction based CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN, the new story arc begins when the nation’s best FBI profiler, Kass Sage, must reach out to her father for help in solving a desperate case. The twist? Her father is the imprisoned serial killer, Vandal Savage.

Writing this three-part story will be James Robinson, the acclaimed writer of STARMAN, THE SHADE and the upcoming EARTH 2. And illustrating the book will be the artist of DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS’ premiere story arc (starring Deadman), Bernard Chang.

“I’m absolutely jazzed to be working with one of my favorite writers, James Robinson, again,” Chang exclusively told THE SOURCE. “Along with the rest of the superb crew of DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS – cover artist Ryan Sook and editors Eddie Berganza and Wil Moss. I really enjoy telling stories of substance and character, so I’m planning on taking what we did well during the Deadman arc (with Paul Jenkins) and adding even more Tabasco sauce. We’re taking it to the next level!”

Please note that the actual title of this arc is not mentioned.  The Silence of the Lambs riff is definitely there.  Especially since there have been cannibalism references around Savage in the past.  The last time we saw a Savage daughter running around the DC, it was Scandal Savage over in Secret Six.  Does Scandal exist in the New 52 universe?  Is this her?  Is this her replacement?  Is the daughter the star or is the father?

This is an announcement that leaves more questions than answers.  Still, James Robinson and Bernard Chang is not a bad lineup and Robinson is on a legacy character, which is one of his sweet spots.  Of course that also raises the question of whether this is Earth-2 related or not.

Finally, artist Marcus To is moving to Batwing after wrapping up the Huntress mini-series.  Just in time for the “Night of the Owls” Event, he starts with issue #9.

By Todd Allen

I got a phone call from Rorschach just now.  I told him I didn’t want a prequel, but he didn’t seem to care about that.  Yes, that’s right, 6minutestomidnight.com is still online.

If you don’t remember that site, it’s a transmedia website created to promote the Watchmen movie.  Which is not to say there wasn’t any squabbling in the fan community about Watchmen and the movie, but it sure was less conflicted than the last couple days with the prequel.  So let’s go back to a calmer time in the Watchmen continuum.

Essentially, you go to the website, enter your phone number and you get a call from the Jackie Earle Haley version of Rorschach.  He’ll ask you some questions and if you say the right phrases, he’ll interact with you.  Otherwise, he’ll act like you’re crazy.  The site prompts you to say over the phone, or type into your computer, what you see in a rorschach test.

When I typed in “dog,” Rorschach said “I don’t want to talk about that.”  When I typed in “Dan DiDio,” Rorschach said “You think that’s funny?  No good.  Try again.”  (I did think it was funny.)

If you identify one of the images correctly, you get a video clip of one of the characters.

Opinions are a bit divided on Watchmen as a film.  I liked it well enough, but I’m not sure how easy it would be to follow if you hadn’t read the book, first.

Head over to 6 Minutes To Midnight and tell Rorschach your problems.  He probably won’t listen.  Then again not listening is a theme, these days…

By Todd Allen

In the 4th “New 52″ writer shuffle of the week, DC has announced Gregg Hurwitz as the new writer for Batman: The Dark Knight, as of issue #10.  I suspect they really mean co-writer on that, as I’m under the impression artist David Finch, for whom the title was created pre-relaunch, has a pretty good amount of input on the plot.  Hurwitz has been around comics for 3-4 years.  He started out at Marvel doing stints with Foolkiller, Punisher, Moon Knight and Wolverine.  More recently, DC’s had him on the Penguin: Pain and Prejudice mini-series.  Of course, comics are Hurwitz’s secret identity.  The rest of the world knows him as a mild-mannered writer of bestselling prose novels in the thriller category.  (Yes, that Alex Alonso fellow does love recruiting crime writers to comics.)

No word yet on what previous writer, Paul Jenkins, is up to next.

Hurwitz’s statement of intentions:

“Okay. So this is the job I’ve been waiting to get since I was eight years old. I’m thrilled to be tackling one of the world’s greatest characters with one of the industry’s greatest artists,” said Hurwitz on his upcoming run on BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT. “Finch and I are very fired up to take the Batman into dark and dangerous new terrain, presenting a story that’ll be epic and sweeping and juuust a little bit twisted. We’re gonna see a cornerstone villain from a whole new angle, too. I’ve always been fascinated by Jonathan Crane—not just what makes him tick, but what could have happened in his past to make him obsessed with fear at the expense of all else. And perhaps that particular obsession isn’t so different from the demons that drive the Dark Knight. As I discovered when writing Penguin: Pain and Prejudice—Batman fits uniquely with the villains in his rogue’s gallery. They are two sides of the same coin, yin and yang, ego and shadow. But in some cases, maybe the match is even closer. Maybe instead of ego and shadow, it’s shadow and shadow. Maybe when Batman looks in the mirror, the Scarecrow’s face is looking out. We’re used to Batman teaching his villains a lesson, but this time the Scarecrow might have something to teach Batman, too. Right now, I’m knee deep in straw and burlap, trying to stitch together a tale I hope you’ll find familiar yet new, a twist on a classic. It’s gonna get bumpy and scary and bit unhinged, so buckle up for the ride.”

By Todd Allen

Oh, we all knew the Watchmen sequel was coming.  The art leaked and DC’s lawyers went wild — unusual enough to know something was close to an announcement.  Then the last round of announced reprint books included The Art of Amanda Conner (some of her art was in that leaked batch) and a HC reprint of Dave Gibbons’ Green Lantern work (more on that in bit) made it clear an announcement was imminent.  What do we get with the actual announcement?  Comedy.  And more comedy from the PR than from the reactions, if you ask me.

Everyone involved with this knows that if “Before Watchmen” isn’t note perfect, there’s likely to be a lot of egg on a lot of faces and everyone is hedging a little.

Let’s start with with my favorite line from the official announcement:

Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m down with Len Wein.  I bought DC Universe: Legacies.  I have Roots of the Swamp Thing packed away somewhere and I think I might prefer his Phantom Stranger work.  He’s an important creator and he brought Alan Moore to DC.  Still, throwing it out like that as the first person with a legacy connection to the original.  That just made me laugh out loud.  I’ll give the official punchline on that to former Esquire editor, Marty Beckerman in his Nerve column:

Original series editor Lee Wein penned many of the new stories, so at least that’s something. Because if Citizen Kane had had a prequel, Orson Welles’ editor should’ve written it.

Unfair?  Absolutely.  But that’s how the press release read to a lot of people.

Speaking of Wein, he’s the subject of the absolute funniest quote in the interviews.  Good ‘ole JMS popped out this gem for CBR:

Alan didn’t pass on being brought on to write Swamp Thing, a seminal comics character created by Len Wein, and he did a terrific job. He didn’t say “No, no, I can’t, that’s Len’s character.” Nor should he have.

Um, dude?  If you want to take that rhetorical approach, you should stick to Watchmen being based on the Charlton characters and Moore tending to retrofit older literary characters.  There’s a big difference between Dan DiDio asking you to do more Watchmen and Len Wein, who happened to be editing the book he was co-creator on, asking Alan Moore to do Swamp Thing.  Still, while horrible logic, that’s comedy gold. [And I'm going to be reading a LONG awaited issue of The Twelve after I post this.  Not like I'm a JMS hater.]

Practically every interview from a creator is defensive.  Everyone know they’re taking a risk participating in such a project.  My advice  – take in the hype.  Taste the fear in the interviews and have a good laugh out of all this.

Then consider the REAL risk-taking DC is doing here.  Watchmen didn’t sell all those graphic novels in the Direct Market.  They sold a lot of them in bookstores to people who wouldn’t have a clue where to get single issues.  DC is opting to take curiosity sales on single issues, rather than on graphic novels.  These titles get a bad rep in serialization, that’s a lot of money left on the table.  But, as JMS was saying today, DiDio is bold.  No pressure whatsoever.

The funniest thing about all of this is how Watchmen colors the mass reaction to these creative teams.  I find myself looking at a Darwyn Cooke title and thinking “do I really want to get this?”  That really shouldn’t be happening, but it’s the Watchmen Effect.  And I’m not exactly in the minority here.  But, figure I was quoting a reaction from Nerve and you see how far away from the DM the ripples go and the irony kicks in that you might be alienating the mass audience to sell the hobbyists.

Finally, we double back to Len Wein, who says to Wired:

“I think reboots are almost mandatory in an industry that has existed for over three-fourths of a century now. The need to inject new blood, new ideas, new approaches, is the only thing that keeps our readers coming back for more.”

My first reaction on reading this was a belly laugh.  Yes, reboot the old characters to inject new blood.  That’s very nearly an oxymoron.   Then it occurred to me, Alan Moore makes an almost annual flustered denouncement that DC is still clinging to his old standards after all these years.  Now it’s a sad comment that DC has to do reboots because they’ve seemingly lost the ability to successfully launch a new character.  The New 52?  All relaunches and revamps.  What is Before Watchmen?  It’s DC going back to an old well one more time.

So here we are and Watchmen is coming.  My last question, based on the initial round of hype… they’re not going to have that Len Wein/Dave Gibbons Green Lantern HC promoted as “by the editor and artist of Watchmen,” are they?

P.S. – Dan?  If you’re brazen enough to do “Before Watchmen,” you’re brazen enough to do a “Watchmen Babies” variant cover.  It would be awesome.  Own the joke.

Whether you think the original WATCHMEN is akin to Moby Dick—as Alan Moore opined—or the Bible, as J. Michael Straczynski thought, it is definitely something—DC’s bestselling graphic novel of all time[*], a beloved classic taught in schools, one of Time’s Best 100 novels of the last 100 years, the book that defined grim and gritty. You name it. Like all great works, it’s multifaceted.

So doing a “Scarlett” on it brings up every argument over whether comics are literature or licensing. You wouldn’t get much argument that WATCHMEN is literature and Moore is a literary figure. But there’s also the obsessive need of devotees to get MORE—there’s a reason why 12 volumes of J.R.R. Tolkien’s jumbled, confused notes, and scribblings were published as hardcover books. Once you enter a beloved fictional world, you don’t want to leave—even if your hosts are yawning and looking longingly at their pajamas.

Complicating matters is an irony that gives the entire affair a level of meaning that Alan Moore himself could have scripted: although it’s being published strictly against its author’s wishes, BEFORE WATCHMEN is a work very much in the vein of the bulk of Alan Moore’s most acclaimed work—from SWAMP THING toLOST GIRLS, Moore has excelled at just that kind of literary reinvention. His most ambitious truly original work, BIG NUMBERS, never got off the launchpad. PROMOTHEA and the rest of the ABC line remain as his originals, but still pastiches of existing tropes.

As you know, prequel writers Brian Azzarello, JMS, Darwyn Cooke and Len Wein have been doing a press tour this morning. Unsurprisingly, JMS has been the most talkative and most willing to give away the “behind the scenes”, such as an account of the super-secret summit where the writers hashed out the story—and decided that everyone had to do his own thing instead of a closely plotted “event.” Thank GOD for that! As he told CBR, JMS also came up with the thematic thread for the prequels:

In the course of that conversation, I mentioned my belief that there are five kinds of truth: the truth you tell to casual acquaintances, the truth you tell to you family and close friends, the truth you tell to only a very few people in your life, the truth you tell yourself and the truth you don’t admit, even to yourself. I was basically just blathering on, as I tend to do, but Dan seized on the last two of those truths as being the thematic core of the books. Darwyn did a whole discussion about this in one of his uploads, further formalizing this as the core of our story. In the end, the miniseries about the points and shadings between what we think we know about these characters, and the truth — what that says about them, and what it says about us.

Which all sounds pretty good—if you are going to write a follow-up to one of the best written graphic novels of all time, you’d better have some subtext thrown in there for flav. Elsewhere, the more taciturn Brian Azzarello merely promises more of what you want:

“He’s the face. The guy who covers his face is the face of the franchise,” Azzarello says. For the four-issue Rorschach series, he’s teaming again with Bermejo, the artist from his Joker graphic novel. “You’re going to get the Rorschach that you know and want. It’s a very visceral story we’re going to be telling,” Azzarello says.

At HuffPo, Len Wein shows that the team has embraced the “relevant” buzzword with some gusto:

The challenge is to make the stories modern and relevant to 2012 and to show what can be done with respect and consideration for the source material that has inspired so many people over the years. By adding to the mythos and not to detract from it,” he said. “‘The Watchmen’ had such an influence on graphic storytelling since it first appeared and is a timeless classic. If we can create a new set of stories that can be enjoyed 25 years on, that would be an achievement and a reward in itself.”

Over at Hero Complex, Darwyn Cooke was originally, quite sensibly, daunted but then….temptation crept in:

“I said no out of hand because I couldn’t think of a story that would measure up to the original — and let’s face it, this material is going to be measured that way — and the other thing is, I frankly didn’t want the attention,” Cooke said this week. “This is going to generate a lot of a particular type of attention that’s really not my bag. But what happened is, months after I said no, the story elements all just came into my head one day; it was so exciting to me that, at that exact moment, I started seriously thinking about doing the book.”

Cooke tells EW that he was looking for a different message than Moore:

While Cooke believes Watchmen was “note perfect” for its time, “I’d consider it a masterpiece if it had been able to have found what I would refer to as a hopeful note. … Again, it’s not hard to understand [where Alan was coming from], and that sort of storytelling does have an allure for young people. [But] I think the older you get, the more you look for hope or positive things. Maybe I’m just getting old.” With that in mind, Cooke says Silk Spectre “is probably going to be the most hopeful of all the books.”

Finally, JMS uses the occasion at THR to deliver an Eric Stephenson-style smackdown of other publishers’ plans:

Ever since Dan DiDio was handed the reins (along with Jim Lee) over at DC, he’s been making bold, innovative moves that might have scared the hell out of anyone else. At a time in the industry when big events tend to be “Okay, we had Team A fight Team B last year, so this year we’re gonna have Team B fight team C!” Dan has chosen to revitalize lines, reinvent worlds and come at Watchmen head-on. It was, I think, about two years ago that he first mentioned that he was considering the idea, and he’s to be commended for fighting to make this happen.

And again, he explains just why we HAD to go there:

The whole point of having great characters is the opportunity to explore them more deeply with time, re-interpreting them for each new age. DC allowed these characters sit on a shelf for over two decades as a show of respect, and that is salutary, but there comes a time when good characters have to re-enter the world to teach us something about ourselves in the present. Alan’s original work spoke profoundly to readers in the 1980s who came through Nixon and Vietnam and the various social movements of the age. The question now becomes, what can those characters illuminate for us now, in 2012? So I think the hope is that by reviving them and peering through their eyes with a contemporary perspective, we can create stories that will entertain and illuminate. All of us involved in this want to do more than just show these guys and gals in action. We want the stories to be about something that’s worth a reader’s time and money to buy.

Okay.

Deep breath.

Many of the creators working on these books are friends of mine—several, I would characterize as dear friends. They all have bodies of work behind them that show they could easily go out and create their own masterpieces—in fact…they all have. In particular, it’s hard not to see MINUTEMEN as the flip side of Cooke’s own THE NEW FRONTIER, another exploration of the mid-century vibe that permeates his work.

And Azzarello and Bermejo on Rorschach? And JG Jones on Comedian? Conner on Silk Spectre? Great casting.

But do you really think any of these creators stayed up at night for years wishing they could have a crack at Watchmen 2? Do Moby Dick or The Bible need an update to stay “relevant”? And how are books set in the past of the ’80s relevant to today anyway? Poor Len Wein (who qualifies as a dear friend, in case you are wondering) gets caught up in all the confusion with his statement to Wired:

“As far as I know there are no plans for more books after this, but 25 years ago there were no plans for these books, so who truly knows?” asked Wein. “I think reboots are almost mandatory in an industry that has existed for over three-fourths of a century now. The need to inject new blood, new ideas, new approaches, is the only thing that keeps our readers coming back for more.”

Actually maybe not Poor Len Wein. I think he nailed it: it is totally mandatory to freshen up the superhero comics industry by rebooting and prequelizing existing ideas instead of coming up with new ones!

For all the talk of staying “relevant”, you might substitute the word “solvent.” Just as The New 52 was the Hail Mary pass/adrenaline to the heart that DC desperately needed to prop up a failing direct market, WATCHMEN 2 is the other guaranteed cash grab. It’s DC’s Eros Comix. While we may find the idea of WATCHMEN prequels repugnant on some level, the level of talent attached is guaranteed to “Make us look!” even if the idea itself is still so unnecessary. Licensing is after all a by-product of consumerism—it’s as if all that WATCHMEN movie merch wasn’t enough and we need one more hit.

MEANWHILE, elsewhere on the internet, the Twittersphere went ballistic this morning. Before WATCHMEN was trending worldwide for several hours this morning. Here’s a couple of our favorites:

Marvel tweeters didn’t hold back their derision, with Dan Slott taking point:

But he also got caught up in the “literature/licensing” battle:

Look, pastiche and homage can still have high literary value: Don Quixote did for the romances of the 17th century what WATCHMEN did for superheroes of the 20th. Jane Austen’s Northhanger Abbey was a take-off on gothic novels as cogent today as then. A lot of smarter comics folks have admired Jay Cantor’s Krazy Kat, a literary reinvention of Herriman’s classic comic strip

Whether you think more WATCHMEN is the equivalent of more Slaughterhouse Five or more Sherlock Holmes, it’s definitely going to fulfill its real purpose: sell a lot of comics books. Let’s hope they are as good as the creators involved can make them.

[*]WATCHMEN is not the “best selling GN of all time”, as many stories put it. ONE PIECE alone has sold 2 million copies of a single volume in 4 days. Asterix & Obelix and surely Tintin have also sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. WATCHMEN may be the best selling AMERICAN GN ever (if you don’t count Wimpy Kid or Ook and Gluk.) It’s surely DC’s —hence our characterizing it that way.

Over at his blog, Adam Hughes has posted his thoughts on drawing Dr. Manhattan for BEFORE WATCHMEN:

So, you see, I have some strange sort of orbital relationship to WATCHMEN. I feel pretty honored to be working it. I’m looking forward to drawing all these characters. Yes, DOCTOR MANHATTAN is an unusual choice to assign me to, but I’m assured that DC has a plan! Maybe they believe that, since I’m well-associated with drawing female anatomy, I’m qualified to handle blue penises. Wait… that doesn’t sound right…

Truly, this is Hughes’s chance to prove that “Comics objectify men too!”

Meanwhile, the JMS/Hughes team would be the first on everyone’s potentially deadline busting list. JMS says he’s written all the script however, and Hughes seems motivated.

After years of rumors, DC has confirmed that they will publish BEFORE WATCHMEN, a series of seven interconnected prequels to the Alan Moore/Dave GIbbons classic. As absurd as the idea may seem on the surface, they have rounded up a bunch of A-listers for the project which will consist of six mini series, a wrap-up and an ongoing pirate-themed “featurette”. Here’s the line-up:
 
-       RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
-       MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
-       COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
-       DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist:  Adam Hughes
-       NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
-       OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
-       SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner
 
The issues will be released weekly, each featuring a two-page back-up story called CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR, written by Wein wih art by original series colorist John Higgins. Everything wraps up with a group effort in a one-shot BEFORE WATCHMEN: EPILOGUE.

And then everyone sits down for tea.
 
Perhaps anticipating that the reaction would veer between excitement and revulsion, DC’s official statements were not triumphal:

“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”

“Comic books are perhaps the largest and longest running form of collaborative fiction,” said DiDio and Lee. “Collaborative storytelling is what keeps these fictional universes current and relevant.”

Original creator Dave Gibbons statement is also lacking in triumphalism:

“The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire,” said Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN co-creator and original series artist.

It was left to the NY Times to deliver Alan Moore’s statement:

Mr. Moore, who has disassociated himself from DC Comics and the industry at large, called the new venture “completely shameless.”

Speaking by telephone from his home in Northampton, England, Mr. Moore said, “I tend to take this latest development as a kind of eager confirmation that they are still apparently dependent on ideas that I had 25 years ago.”

… Still, Mr. Moore said he was unlikely to stand in the way of Before Watchmen or to fight the project in court, where he said DC Comics would meet him with an “infinite battery of lawyers.”

“I don’t want money,” he said. “What I want is for this not to happen.”

“As far as I know,” he said, “there weren’t that many prequels or sequels to ‘Moby-Dick.’ ”

The Times piece does manage to capture the mixed feelings over the project. Azzarello shrewdly predicts that people will be initially scornful because “a lot of comic readers don’t like new things,” hich misses the point that this isn’t exactly new.

“I think the gut reaction is going to be, ‘Why?’ ” Mr. Azzarello said in a telephone interview. “But then when the actual books come out, the answer will be, ‘Oh, that’s why.’ ”

Yet novelist Jonathem Lethem, who says the projects is “inviting a disgrace,” admits that the original itself is a mash-up of Charlton, Brecht/Weil and Shelley.

Even as the news rolled out, the interviews and exclusive sneaks are also rolling out. Your scorecard, Via The Source

And here’s the art:

We’ve mentioned a few times here a lawsuit for copyright infringement by DC against an outfit called Gotham Garage, which sells replica Batmobiles—based on the ’60s Batman TV show in particular—as well as other vehicles based on famed fantasy cars, like the Mach Five.

If you were thinking of buying one, better hurry, because a judge has ruled that the Batmobile is subject to copyright.

Well of course it is, you may be saying. But that’s not actually the usual legal thinking. A car design is subject to trademark but not copyright. Gotham Garage owner Mark Towles argued that the Copyright Act can’t be extended to “useful articles” like a car. But the judge ruled that….the Batmobile isn’t really that useful, so that argument ran out of gas on the way back to the Batcave.

The judge ruled that Towles “ignores the exception to the ‘useful article’ rule, which grants copyright protection to nonfunctional, artistic elements of an automobile design that can be physically or conceptually separated from the automobile.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a can of worms has been set loose by this ruling and other similar recent cases where copyright and ordinary use run afoul:

The copyrightability of designs has been a hot topic of late in courts. Could Batman’s costume be copyrighted? A lawsuit claiming copyright infringement in superhero costumes was settled in December before a judge gave a firm answer. Could Batman’s furnished dark cave hideaway be copyrighted? Hard to say for sure, but a judge rejected earlier this month a claim that furniture designs met the standard for being conceptually separable from their utilitarian purposes.

In other words, just because a chair is made to fit the expanding American butt, it isn’t just utilitarian, it’s designed…and maybe copyrightable.

Our legal knowledge being limited, we’re going to just shut up and yell, “Hey Jeff Trexler!”

UPDATE: Okay Maybe we don’t need Jeff Trexler. After looking at the court docs, it doesn’t look like this case has been settled one way or another—the judge has ruled against Towle’s motion to dismiss, but the most recent filing is not a definitive ruling.

Here’s the original complaint:

and the most recent motion:

By Todd Allen

You knew you couldn’t go much more than two weeks without DC shuffling creative teams on the not-as-new 52.  This time, it really is more of a shuffle than wholesale replacements, though, as three books get a new writer and DC’s announcing things a little further out.

The biggest announcement has is likely that Jeff Lemire is taking over Justice League Dark with issue #9.  As you may recall, Lemire’s Animal Man is one of the best-reviewed titles of the relaunch and has performed MUCH better than pretty much anyone had expected.  Lemire is arguably that corner of the DCU’s flagship writer, so if they want this to be the flagship book, it makes sense.

Lemire’s statement of intentions:

This is my dream gig at DC Comics, no doubt about it. The characters in Justice League Dark are my absolute favorite in the DC Comics stable, and I can’t believe I’m actually getting a chance to write John Constantine, Zatanna and Deadman (as well as a few new team members!).

I have a huge amount of respect for Peter Milligan. I’ve loved everything he’s done since his original SHADE run in the pre-Vertigo days of DC to his current run on Hellblazer and JL Dark. It’s a bit daunting to take over this title from someone who I revere as much as Peter, but at the same time I can’t help but be inspired by the work he’s already done with this book.

I obviously have my own ideas for the title as well, and can’t wait to share them with readers. One of the things I’m anxious to explore is just why the name “Justice League” is in the title of this book? I want to explore and create new connections between this team of mystical misfits and Geoff and Jim’s big guns in The Justice League. On that note, Geoff and I have had many discussions on how to link our two books and make the Justice League franchises connect in new and unexpected ways. More on that in the near future…

So, what else can you expect from the “New” Justice League Dark? Well, you’ll see an old haunt becoming the team’s new HQ. Constantine, the master manipulator that he is, will emerge as the clear leader of the team, and there will be 2 new members as well! (Hint one’s a man and one’s a woman. One uses magic, one doesn’t.) Not enough….hmmm…how about a classic Justice League villain re-imagined as The Justice League Dark’s new arc-enemy? And that’s just the start. I have a huge storyline planned with implications across the Dark line of books.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that the amazingly talented Mikal Janin will be staying on board to draw all of this fun stuff, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I’ve loved Mikal’s work since I first saw it in the Flashpoint: Deadman mini-series and I think Mikal is the perfect artist for this book. And I can already tell by our initial talks that this will be the start of a great partnership. And we’re both lucky to have the incomparable Ryan Sook making us look good.

I’m pretty damn excited to be writing Justice League Dark. And I hope you’ll join me as I take you and these characters into the darkest, strangest corners of the DCU and beyond!

With Lemire on JLD, that frees up Peter Milligan.  Milligan is moving over to Stormwatch with issue #9.  Milligan replaces Paul Cornell on the title, so it’s staying UK-penned.  To tell you the truth, I was surprised that Milligan _hadn’t_ written any Wildstorm properties when I looked up his bibliography.  His only Wildstorm title, The Programme, doesn’t appear to have been part of the W.I.L.D.Cats/Authority/Stormwatch continuum.  Certainly, he’s the sort of writer I’d have expected to see on one of those books.  Which is to say, the pairing seems like a natural fit.

Milligan’s statement of intentions:

Stormwatch has the craziness, the paranoia and the occasional bursts of odd humor that really grab me. This is my kind of book. In other words, when I re-read Paul Cornell’s excellent first series with a view to taking over the writing duties I was really excited. And I’m excited too by what I have planned, from Stormwatch facing a ferocious character from the Red Lantern Corps, to hidden secrets being revealed about the origin of Stormwatch, and some shocking revelations about the mysterious Shadow Lords. It’s going to be a very intense ride.

It’s a bit of a wrench leaving JL Dark, of course, and not working with the increasingly outstanding Mikel Janin. But the fact that Jeff Lemire is taking over makes me very sanguine. I think Jeff is great. And I think he’ll be great for this book. It’ll be intriguing to see how he handles the great conman mage, John Constantine, whose twisted life I’m continuing to chronicle over in Vertigo’s Hellblazer.

For the third title with a new writer, things get a little more outside the box.  Starting with issue #10, Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. will be written by Matt Kindt.  Kindt did the “Revolver” graphic novel for Vertigo, not too long ago, but is MUCH better know for his “Super Spy” graphic novel from Top Shelf.  Kindt’s profile coming into this is a lot like Lemire’s coming into the 52 relaunch: he’s done some well-received indie and Vertigo work, but this is a different format/genre and you’re not quite sure what to expect.  (In Lemire’s case, DC struck gold with Animal Man.  Frankenstein coming in with less praise and lower sales.)  Of course, since Kidnt is associated with spy fiction, we might see the S.H.A.D.E. aspect of Frankenstein played up a bit more.

DC _has_ had a chance to see Kindt in this format.  The last issue of Men of War turns out to be something of a backdoor pilot/audition, with Kindt and Lemire co-writing an adventure with Frankenstein and the GI Robot.  They’re also saying that Kindt helped Lemire brainstorm some of the Frankenstein concepts.  DC can probably get more sales with Lemire on JL-Dark and Frankenstein isn’t a bad choice for Kindt to try something a little more superhero-ish (well, Vertigo superhero-ish by way of Morrison) on for size.  It’s a legitimately interesting choice.

Kindt’s statement of intentions:

I’m so excited to be writing Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.! I’ve been good friends with Jeff Lemire since we both broke into comics years ago and I remember spending the weekend at his studio and kicking his ideas around for his take on Frank and Crew and just having a blast. Lemire was having so much fun putting these characters into action…and I think that fun really comes through.

And then getting the invite to officially work with him on Men of War…AND getting to put G.I. Robot into the story? – that’s the kind of work that I would daydream about when I was a kid getting my comics from the grocery store spinner-rack. So now, getting my hands on a monthly book is just crazy.

I’ve had a pretty fortunate career to date by breaking into comics with my own original graphic novels. All I’ve known is creator-owned stuff. I’ve been spoiled – writing and drawing my own books. So in a lot of ways I feel like I’m the mirror image of a lot of writers that get the work-for-hire stuff straight away and then work to make the leap to creator-owned work. So for me, this is just a great big treat. Getting to work on characters that have been around forever and have a kind of cultural history already. It’s just plain fun. I feel like I’m collaborating with everyone that’s ever touched these characters before, from Grant Morrison to Bob Haney and Arnold Drake.

And working in the DC universe is liberating in a lot of ways. I’m getting a chance to hit more directly on a lot of genre stuff I haven’t gotten to yet – science fiction and horror with all of my past espionage experience mixed into it. It’s a crazy mix. I have to say that writing the scripts for Frankenstein has seriously been some of the most entertaining hours of my writing career.

Taking over for Jeff is just the added bonus – knowing where he was going with the series from the beginning and talking about these great characters he’s rebooted has been fantastic. And it’s going to be fun to surprise him (and the readers) with where it ends up going. There’s Frank and his relationship with so-and-so (can’t spoil it), the Mummy and his crazy origin. And we’re going to get to see a lot more of S.H.A.D.E. and see how the agency works around the globe and visit a lot of crazy field offices. What is life as a S.H.A.D.E. agent really like? It’s basically Steranko meets Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, with some of the best spy-gadgets ever invented.

I was working on the Robot Man story for My Greatest Adventure and digging through my old Doom Patrol comics and I found this old issue of Secret Origins: Doom Patrol. In the middle of that issue was this fantastic essay about what the Doom Patrol was and what they represented. This is the comic that sold me on Doom Patrol and was my gateway to DC. So I’m sitting at a coffee shop re-reading this Secret Origins comic (that I’d picked up at the grocery store) and I realize it’s written by Joey Cavalieri – who’s now my editor on My Greatest Adventure and now Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. and it makes all of this seem right. Full circle and secret origin!