Robinson On JLA Part Deux

The more I think about this, the more I like his being on the book. Sure, Geoff Johns would have hyped me up a little more...and I'm sad at the revelation that Rucka was going to do a second JLA series but it seems dead.

But what was one of the worst things that happened to McDuffie? He had to keep changing his stories because of what other writers were planning for rather big events.

Robinson is in that inner circle. Changes won't be taking him by surprise as much. The product, therefore, will suffer less.

I will say, though, that what McDuffie went through seemed to be some old concerns coming home to roost. When the 52 writers were being given the reigns of DC with new status and titles, some said that anyone not up on the pedestal with them might find things unbearably restrictive. Look at a lot of the books out there and you can see where writers not in the clique are dropping off projects to some extent.

And look at Sean McKeever back at Marvel. McKeever had the misfortune of being tied to the anti-52, COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS. Certainly not a part of the in-crowd at DC, he's recently parted ways with the main TEEN TITANS book, gone off exclusive (which he claims was repeatedly offered to be extended) and is placed on a Marvel title that seems to be part of the constant event cycle over there. He, also, seems well suited to write it, given both his success with SPIDERMAN LOVES MARY JANE and GRAVITY.

I think one of the biggest mistakes DC has made in recent years is hiring talented writers and then pressing them into writing stuff that doesn't play to their strengths. McKeever on Teen Titans? Seemed like a no-brainer...until it turned out it had to take a darker turn for what management had planned. McDuffie on JLA, after his great work on JLU? Self-contained single episode stories from JLU meet only telling partial bits related to someone else's story and not being able to set a tone to stick to consistently.

One way or another, I think their recent moves will lead to better books. I can't tell you whether it is that the writers are being matched to their strengths or if DC is giving them more of a say in where the stories go, but the end result will be the same: general improvement. Shame they had to piss away and make miserable a handful of other writers before coming to this point, though.