Justice League, assemble! At the end of last week, DC Comics announced they had signed exclusive deals with writer Steve Orlando (Midnighter), and artists Doc Shaner (Adventures of Superman) and Jesus Merino (The Flash).  This announcement follows last month’s reveal that the publisher had signed contracts with Tom King (The Vision), Clay Mann (Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death), and John Timms (Inhumans: Attilan Rising).  Slowly but surely, DC Comics is putting together a roster of hit creators and up-and-comers.  This week on Podcorn Podcast, we look at what these exclusive contracts mean for creators, why we haven’t seen many over the past few years, and speculate on whether or not we might see Marvel respond with some exclusives of their own.

We also dig into the amazing success of Ta Nehisi Coates’ and Brian Stelfreeze’s Black Panther, which has already garnered over 300,000 pre-sale orders.  Plus…exclusive Loot Crate comics whaaaaaat?

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Show Notes

00:56 — Show begins!

05:00 — Welcome to the DC Clubhouse, Steve Orlando, Doc Shaner, and Jesus Merino!

07:20 — As a former editor at DC Comics, Brandon expounds upon some of the reasons why DC Comics extends exclusive offers and why creatives take them.

17:00 — Could exclusive deals be used by DC and Marvel as a tactic to keep top-notch creators from straying to the world of creator owned books?

23:00 — The eternal conflict for all creatives: freedom or security?

27:50 — A detour into the land of Vertigo’s lineup.  How can they recapture that lightning in their bottle?

33:45 — DC may toot its exclusive talents horn loudly and proudly, but Marvel takes a quieter approach to its exclusive agreements.  Why?

37:00 — Dear Marvel, please sign Ta Nehisi Coates.  300,000 Black Panther #1s ordered with two weeks to go until ship?!  INSANE.  Is there a catch?

51:35 — Loot Crate’s March release was based around the concept of “versus” conflicts, and even included a special issue of Harley Quinn released no where else!  Could we see more of these types of books as time goes on?


Every Wednesday, I talk about comics with Brandon Montclare, writer of the hit Image series Rocket Girl and co-writer of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur series.

We gab about what we’re reading now, what books we consider classics (Brandon loves Dark Knight Strikes Again…), and the hottest gossip of the industry.  Occasionally, the inimitable artist Amy Reeder (Rocket GirlBatwoman) stops by.  Check out our full show archive at podcornpodcast.com.

Intro/Outro music this week is Past Lives by BØRNS, off his album Dopamine.

Visit rocketgirl.nyc for swag from Brandon and Amy!

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2 COMMENTS

  1. I hope we don’t come across as haters, Bill! Speaking for myself at least, I am SUPER PUMPED for Black Panther for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is Coates’ prestigious body of work outside of comics. We need more outside voices in our field, and Coates is one hell of a get!

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