Schwappathetic 52

Count me amongst the folks that felt that DC Comics should have relaunched all of their comics back when they did Crisis on Infinite Earths or several of their other events. It would have been well-timed and, I believe, much better received than this new directive.

For some reason, I can't muster much enthusiasm for this relaunch. I think I figured it out.

All of those other moments where they thought about it or could have done a relaunch? They weren't using an Elseworlds story as the launching point. That's what Flashpoint is.

All of the previous events included at least an attempt to give the characters we've followed for decades a last hurrah. They were going out with an epic fight before being started over. We weren't given empty, alternate versions of the characters to follow through an event that hasn't even given us enough time to be made to care about them sufficiently to even be concerned about the stakes. 

With the original Crisis, there was a fight at the beginning of time. We knew all the players, so you didn't have to learn about them and decide if you cared, but just have it demonstrated that the stakes were high. Zero Hour probably made the weakest argument for being used as a huge relaunch starting point, but it did have the plot devices necessary. Infinite Crisis would have been pretty strong, given all the discussion that had come from DC about this being an example of it being darkest before the dawn, seeming to indicate plans at a tonal shift for their entire line. Final Crisis would have been a bit poetic, given that it was Grant's demonstration of the power of a story, being used to end one while starting another.

Flashpoint? Ugh. It is an "event" in name only, as it centers around only one of the DC flagship characters being used to drive this alternate reality...and not one of the most commercially attractive ones, at that. While this is going on in its mini and a bunch of alternate one-shots and minis, the rest of the DCU titles are going on as if blissfully ignorant of the whole thing. So we don't seem to even get much of an opportunity for creative teams in the original titles to give titles or character versions a real send off. 

In that sense, the whole thing stinks of business-first/story-last. I'm not naive: I'm fairly aware that business, push comes to shove, is always first. But it is in the best interests of all involved to make sure that never stands so naked before the customer as it appears to be right now. Which makes it difficult to build up excitement to continue to read the obligatory event that launches the business decision of the year in September. It, also, makes me wonder if they knew they had the OK to relaunch back when they planned Flashpoint or if it came along after this event was already scheduled, making it necessary to turn this into part of the launch, rather than designed that way.

A New Low (updated)

When an internet message board troll who has practically made Didio-bashing a profession gets written into a DC Comics issue to be beaten and embarrassed, I think the people who published that product should be more ashamed than the target.

Honestly.

"Harold Winer".

Who goes on to become "Herald".

A shot at a message board poster who obsesses over D-level and lesser characters on the 'net, with the user name of Herald.

Who happens to be black just like the character in the book.

Who has gotten into arguments with DC Comics creators and had one say that he is well known in the DC offices, where he is regularly laughed at.

Sadly, if you remove this thinly veiled shot at a reader from the equation, the writing involved in making this "Harold Winer" character is even worse. But the thought process behind actually using 5 pages (and possibly more to come) to take a shot at a hater is just impossible for me to come to grips with.

We want to argue that the online fan presence is a vocal minority, right? I've actually started to embrace that idea more over the last year. But when members within that group can have such an effect on you that you have to devote pages to taking them down? Makes me wonder how much the people behind the scenes believe it.

Addendum: Just to add in a few things based on all the internet chatter mentioning the long existing character named Herald and that they feel it is a bit much to draw the conclusion that this is a shot on an internet poster.

The original Herald is now called Vox and doesn't require a horn, this is true. It is possible that this character will become a new Herald in the DC Universe. Sure, the horn doesn't seem to be of the same origin as the one the previous Herald used, but anything is possible  (apparently, this is familiar enough to how Mal Duncan received the horn way back when). I did leave this character's existence open-ended.

But "Harold Winer" and protestations that he "would not change one thing" about a D-list character who is so wounded by the character changing, turned into a character named Herald...I'm saying there is a helluva lot of smoke there. Potentially being turned into a new Herald doesn't negate the possibility that this is a shot at Didio hater. Superboy/man Prime became a somewhat better constructed comment on general fanboy complaining; his continued existence and being some form of legacy character (depending on your definition) doesn't change the meta elements.

Wow...For Such A High Tech Man, He Has Low Tech Vision

Jim Lee said, according to Newsarama coverage of the DC Nation panel, the following about digital comics:

4:36

Next question concerned "digital initiatives." Lee said he's never seen anything on the digital side that is as compelling for him as a printed comic, saying you can't replicate things like the four-page spread in Blackest Night #8.

4:37

Another advantage of printed comics, according to Lee: "You can read them on an airplane as you're taking off."

4:37

"They're not a huge part of anyone's business, regardless if you're on the iPad tomorrow or not," Lee said of digital comics.

4:38

"We're talking to a bunch of different vendors, software companies about it," Lee continued. "It's going to be more than, 'hey, here are some scanned comics,' because frankly, that's out there already."

Really? A gatefold, four page spread (that isn't really quite four pages) can't be replicated on a computer screen?

And I sincerely hope tongue was planted firmly in cheek with that "read them on an airplane" comment. Besides, that's really more of a trade paperback selling point than a periodical selling point. One clearly travels better than the other.

They aren't a huge part of anyone's business, even if they're on the iPad tomorrow...when the effects of being on the iPad haven't been seen yet? When the question was forward looking, not asking about how digital has performed thus far, seeing as how DC hasn't really even dipped their toe into the water yet?

The offerings have to be more than "hey, here are some scanned comics" because illegal scans are already out there? Seriously? Even when we're seeing that motion comics aren't setting the world on fire and the more bells and whistles that get added, the higher you have to price the content to make a profit, which inadvertently pushes readers back to the printed version?

This is the guy that just got promoted to one of the most important positions at DC Comics? All of a sudden, I'm much less enthused about that move.

It's Good To Be The King

So, Dan Didio approved Dan Didio's pitch to handle a Bat-Family book (of sorts) in The Outsiders.

I approach this book with more trepidation than I would if it was a total unknown being handed the reins. Is it because I have that low of an opinion of Didio's writing? No. Well, I did find his Metal Men strip to mimic all the worst qualities of old school comics, but that may have been a function of him writing it as a Sunday-style strip.

No, the trepidation has nothing to do with how good of a writer he may be, but whether he's getting the gig because he has an interesting take that any other writer would have had an approved pitch from or if it is just that, you know, he's the boss of the people who judge the pitch.

Oh wait...I guess that does boil back down to how good of a writer he may be, to some extent. I guess you can say it is a concern on whether he is truly the right guy for the job or he could have transcribed the phone book, submitted it as a pitch and still got the gig.

Over on the above linked The Source blog post, I said in the comments that it is obviously Geo-Force and Steel, but on further inspection, I believe I'm wrong on that (unless I missed when he started rocking the utility belt).

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.

Justice League: Cry For Justice

Gotta love whoever comes up with these titles. But here's the "prelim" cover (though the file is named coverfinal.jpg) for the James Robinson originally-announced-as-an-ongoing-series-then-mysteriously-made-a-mini-series Justice League book that feels about a year late. The art is by Mauro Cascioli, who finished up the Trials of Shazam after Howard Porter was pulled due to injury, I believe.

Is Dan Didio On Speaking Terms With...Dan Didio?

From Newsarama.com:

We’re still locking down the writer on the Oracle miniseries, but Battle for the Cowl will be written and drawn by Tony Daniel, which we’re very excited about. This is the first time Tony’s written in a while, and he’s just champing at the bit to be able to do this, and we’re excited that he’s on the series.

From Hero Complex on the LA Times website:

Dan Didio: The first thing we’re going to see is called “Battle for the Cowl,” that’s going to be a book that features nearly every member of the Batman family

GB: Even Ace the Bat-Hound?

DD: [Laughs] Probably. We have a writer-artist team on this right now that’s scouring every book possible to see what they can include in these two-page spreads they want to build of all the characters that inhabit the Batman universe.

Unless Tony Daniel has MPD, there's no way I can see him referred to as "they" and "team". What's the deal?

Newsarama: Still Need Google To Search It?

So I was chatting with a friend online regarding some of Dan Didio's recent decisions regarding the DC publishing schedule. The friend says that Didio came off looking like a complete asshole in the last column where he answered questions on Newsarama.com. I remember him having some bad news, but not coming off like an ass.

So I search for Dan Didio and I get this:


1...2...3...3....3...THREE TOTAL RESULTS.

Do a quick Google search of Newsarama.com for Dan Didio?

Searching Dan Didio on the site itself pulls up a total of 3 hits...but Google puts the pertinent articles right at the top?

Other blogs (like The Beat) have already covered how Newsarama and CBR are much closer in hit levels since the redesign. I still say the fall can be blamed on the move to Pluck and comments on front page articles instead of threads. The old style was much more conducive to readers linking back to notable bits on the site, without any particular benefit to be found in the new.

What's Going On At DC?

Rich's LitG this week seems to be pointing at Dan Didio as the source of a lot of disgruntlement for the writers at DC.

Making Grant Morrison change the ending to Final Crisis that is, supposedly, exactly what was approved at the beginning (have some doubts on that one)?
Writers having to put their own stories on hold because of the Final Crisis changes?
Having a stand-up shouting match with James Robinson (who, IMO, is writing like a guy back from Hollywood that thinks comic book scripts are kids' stuff)?
Winding up with Tony Daniel on your big follow-up to BATMAN R.I.P. (any bets on whether this winds up worse than Countdown: Arena?)?

I have no idea what is actually going on, but it doesn't look good for DC at all.

Is Pick On Didio Day Over?

Cuz I just wanted to sneak these bits in:

People seem to identify this problem as being unique to DC, but I would argue that it happens across the entire industry. I would argue that no matter what your expectations are every week, those expectations are unfortunately broken. I would argue that this problem is unique to the business.

Sure, it happens everywhere. But you, Mr. Didio, were those most emphatic about scheduling issues getting fixed. Marvel made the decision that it won't put fill-in artists on a major event and stuck to it. Quesada has said they'd do everything they can on scheduling issues, but did not feel that sacrificing quality for timeliness was an acceptable trade-off.

DC, on the other hand, lets their events run fairly late and then STILL uses fill-in artists. You have to pick a course and stick to it. If you're willing to use fill-ins, then try to have artists ready to fill-in, rather than wait until you're sacrificing both quality (in as much as lack of consistency in art styles) and timeliness.

As Mr. Miyagi said:

"Left side road? OK. Right side road? OK. Middle of road? (SLAP) Squish like grape."

Pick an approach that satisfies timeliness or satisfies quality issues, rather than satisfying neither.

Regarding the use of the multiverse:

DD: The real answer – I just don’t want to approach it in a haphazard manner. Being incredibly candid, I want Grant Morrison to have first crack at it. So realistically, the multiverse is Grant’s toy to play with and use as he likes. I want Grant, when he becomes available, to do the first and best exploration of the mutliverse. He has the best grasp of the concept, and the interpretations that I feel matter.

Geoff did a wonderful job for the Earth-2 story he did in JSA recently, but Grant has so many fabulous ideas for the multiverse that we’re going to wait for him.

That's right. It is an incredibly wise idea to wait for the guy who's work ethic more or less led to you needing to bring in Doug Mahnke to finish Final Crisis and who wants to go off and do Vertigo for awhile. I'm sure we'll get to see that in a reasonable amount of time with the customer base just as anxious and excited to see it.

All that said, I like Didio and think he often gets too much shit from fans (and told him as much at Wizard World Chicago...twice...while drunk). There's just obvious room for improvement.

Blue Beetle Canceled

Thought I'd share a quick bit regarding Didio's announcement regarding Blue Beetle:

One of the books that I’m most disappointed about in that regard is a book like Blue Beetle, which we are cancelling. That’s a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way. Recently, we felt that it was standing on firmer ground, and was getting a more positive response. The problem is that the firmer ground and positive response is not enough to keep the book afloat. So unfortunately, we had to cancel that series.

You put Matt Sturges on the book and pretty much immediately had an arc about illegal immigration/border-crossing. When that happens right after a writer change, it feels a little dubious. If it happened in the middle of Rogers' run, I wouldn't have raised a brow. If it happened after a half year of the new team, maybe I'd be fine with it. But it turned me off immediately to where I dropped it quickly.

I can deal with message books, but not when they're heavy-handed. Blame Winick, but I've been made very wary of the overall quality of a story in a message book. Having it be about the first thing of an announced new direction (right after the Spanish language gimmick issue), didn't send signals that would leave me hopeful.

The Root Cause For Final Crisis Delays?

Hi there, folks. You may remember I blogged about how I felt JG was falling on his sword and taking too much of the blame when Grant Morrison was likely more responsible for the delays.

What's that you're saying, Dan Didio?

The fact that at a point we were waiting for parts of the script from issues #6 and #7, the reality came to be that we were never going to be able to hit our dates.

Thanks, Dan. Dan went on to talk about other issues, with one in particular grabbing my attention:

In February, again, we’re bringing the line back closer together and working to bring the continuity back in synch. In that month, we’ll have a series of books – I think we’re up to about 19 in all now – that will have six page stories as backups, and each book will be branded “Origins and Omens.” What you’re going to see in those stories is a little of the origin of each character, what’s essential to know about each character to date, and more importantly, a little foreshadowing of what’s to come with the character. Each one of the “Origins and Omens” installments will have a common narrator, and that narrator has direct ties to Blackest Night later in the year.

Can we say Martian Manhunter? That's my guess, at least.

Morrison: Pissing On Countdown Before The 'Rama Interview

Over on ComicFoundry.com, they had an interview published with Grant Morrison on April 29th where the following exchange took place:

"You’ve done several big event books for DC. What’s the hardest part about writing them?

Trying not to disturb continuity too much, particularly in cases where said continuity is best described as a car wreck. Back in 2006, I requested a moratorium on the New Gods so that I could build up some foreboding and create anticipation for their return in a new form … instead, the characters were passed around like hepatitis B to practically every writer at DC to toy with as they pleased, which, to be honest, makes it very difficult for me to reintroduce them with any sense of novelty, mystery or grandeur. So in cases like this, where fellow creators have overlooked my carefully established additions to DC continuity or ignored my pleas to hold certain characters in reserve, my intention is to follow the through-line I’ve established in my own work so that there’s at least some long-term consistency."

Wow...this says two things to me:

1. Comic Foundry really needs to make its online presence a little more well-known. The blogosphere erupted much more about Grant dismissing Countdown in his Newsarama interview, despite the fact that he had pretty much already told the world that he didn't care to match up to what DC did against his wishes over in CF's interview.
2. DC editorial really managed to find the worst of both worlds. They have apparently frustrated some creators by wanting to stick to the Morrison road map but disregarded what appears to be a pretty important setup point because the man at the top felt the New Gods needed a proper tribute. From where I sit, that send off could have been an out-of-continuity Death of the New Gods...or even just the in-continuity Death of the New Gods without making Countdown hinge on New God participation.

All the info I have read on the subject seemed to indicate that the decision to give the Kirby versions some sort of send off originated from Dan Didio. He's the only DC guy I've seen making statements about why they focused on them in Countdown and in their own mini. No other editors or creators have stepped up and said it was something they championed.

So, if a personal desire from Didio is at the root of Countdown, Death of the New Gods, and the resultant disconnect with Final Crisis, I can see why things could be a bit tense for Didio. He's in a position where you normally defer to the creators under contract, rather than spend time putting your own ideas out there. His being co-architect of Countdown with Dini is a double hit on Dan doing his job: one hit for approving the idea and another for expanding his role into being more hands on with the writing than he maybe should have been.

Makes me wonder...is he AJ Lieberman after all?

(CF article brought to my attention via a link from 4thLetter.net, which I got to via DigitalFemme.com)

Maybe The Rama Is Getting Dogpiled (& The Dixon Saga)

I'm a comic industry gossip addict. I hit The Beat & Blog@ everyday...many times. I occasionally hit Journalista and Spurgeon's site. Journalista get hit daily from time to time, depending on how recently Dirk has picked a fight or stirred shit up on some topic.

I go to these sites because it seems to me that blog sites run with bits and fragments of news and stories more quickly. I think it is just the nature of the animal.

So, I'm a fan of the work done by The Beat and by Blog@, regardless of what people at either site might think of me. They are both damn entertaining.

That said...

I feel like the following from The Beat paints a disingenuous picture:

Covering breaking news seems to be a work in progress at the new ‘Rama. While l’Affaire de Chuck Dixon was all over the blogosphere last week, it was absent from Newsarama’s front page, something that did not escape Valerie’s notice. Matt Brady came back the next day with a solid story that was mostly background and no comment but at least it was something.

First of all, Newsarama wound up covering it on Blog@. Was it front page when there was little-to-know meat to the story? No. Could they have linked to the Blog@ coverage from the front page? Sure. But there seems to be an effort to trump it up into a bigger issue.

Then there's trying to frame Newsarama as responding to people criticizing their lack of front page coverage by giving it front page coverage the next day. The Beat seems to try to do this with subtlety in the above quoted piece. Occasional Superheroine did it with less subtlety by following this blog with "Guess What Story Is On The "Front Page" Of Newsarama?" Never mind that the front page article went live at 7:45am that morning, meaning it was certainly being worked on much of the previous night. That would seem to demonstrate that Newsarama was, gasp, trying to focus on good journalism practices more than rushing to get something on the front page that was already covered on Blog@ and countless other sites.

The final bit seems to be critical of Newsarama for their being nothing new in the reporting, despite their best efforts. They can't make anyone talk if they're unwilling (though, holy shit, what a difference a week makes with Chuck Dixon, apparently).

It seems like, due to the timing of this story with the changeover in the site, people want to see a major problem where there isn't one so they can tie it to the site transition.

-----------------------------------------------

Oh, while we're talking about the Dixon situation, Val's take seems to view the whole thing through the lens of her life instead of what actually went on with Dixon. Dixon spoke out like he did to defend his reputation and it is partially appropriate because DC wasn't doing anything to explain the situation? That's how I read it from her blog, but feel free to steer me in the right direction if I'm wrong. Because, if that's what she's saying, there are a few problems with it as it pertains to Dixon (but no problem with how it pertains to her; she may have avoided names, but she gave a clear picture of the circumstances).

1. It would be kind of odd for DC to come out and announce that Dixon has been kicked off the books before there were any solicitations that would necessitate an explanation for his absence.
   
2. If there's been any demonstration that DC was leaking negative info about why Dixon was no longer on the books, requiring him to counter by harshly ripping "someone" at the top, I haven't seen it. Feel free to link me to it in the comments if I missed it.
3. Telling everyone you didn't quit doesn't really seem to defend your reputation. Bashing the conditions at the place you didn't quit doesn't seem to be much of a defense of one's reputation.

It seems clear that Dixon went a touch past defending his reputation in his blog commenting/Didio bashing. I can't argue for or against the comments being warranted or deserved. But I can certainly argue against them being necessary to protect against being slimed by his past employer. No, he seemed to be preemptively sliming his past executive editor. Last I checked (and I'll give you that it's been more than 24 hours), there still wasn't a clear picture of what exactly happened.

Chuck's not really being entirely fair when he says, "BG1, I simply stated that I was off my titles and that I did not quit. This was to get out in front of the rumors."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but no one knew anything to make rumors about until he decided to tell the world that he was off the books. THEN he had to get in front of rumors (that he created a vacuum and market for) by saying he didn't quit, which didn't exactly fill that vacuum.

In all of this, he goes through basically spelling out who the problem was by telling everyone who it wasn't. Shit, at some point, his not naming the person when he was doing everything BUT THAT to make it clear who he was talking about, his continued resistance to naming the name makes it seem like he's missing part of his anatomy. I won't say what part, but it certainly isn't the head and don't blame the shaft.

Funny that I haven't seen anyone (least of all Dixon) refute the rumor that Lynxara shared on the infamous Comics Should Be Good blog:

So I’ve heard an interesting rumor about this, not quite inside info, but sourced well enough I’m inclined to take it seriously. I cannot disclose the source as the information was passed along entirely off-the-record, so you may take this with a grain of salt.

What I’ve heard regarding this situation is that Dixon was approaching the books as regular runs and so had written very far ahead on all of his titles– I’m hearing something like two years’ worth of scripts. However, editorial didn’t give him full details of the outcome of upcoming events like Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis, so the vast bulk of what Dixon wrote ended up being unusable.

This led to sharp disagreements about rewriting the scripts and whether Dixon should have produced that much material in the first place, and presumably the end of Dixon’s employment at DC.

He wrote possibly two years ahead on off-shoot books. He knows that Robin will always be lower on the totem pole than Batman or Detective. Same goes double for Batman & The Outsiders. He doesn't stop to think that the main titles might dictate enough to the spin-off titles along the way to present a problem? Maybe he's just not used to writing a spin-off without having more of a hand in the parent titles?

So...again...he writes ahead, presumably gets told that some elements crucial to his writing ahead aren't usable, and he doesn't agree that he should have to scrap that work and start over? That makes DC the heel and Dixon a saint?

What other type of employment is that acceptable in? What other type of employment is that not basically quitting by fact of refusing to do your job? If I behaved like what his role in that rumored scenario in any job I had, I'd at least be denied several weeks of my unemployment, if allowed to file at all.

And Comics Journalism Needs A Russert

• Rumors persist that Marvel_b0y was a viral campaign run by employees of Marvel, despite at least some sort of denial from Joe Quesada.
• Countdown counted down to nothing, since it certainly didn't countdown to Final Crisis.
• Grant Morrison says that he gave DC his first issue script and the outline for the entire mini-series long ago, yet rumors persist that Didio traveled out to Scotland because Morrison was delivering something different than he had previously laid out.
  
• Dixon leaves DC; he didn't quit, yet he says he didn't have quite the passionate "YOU'RE FIRED!" moment. There are strong indications that Didio is the reason he's gone, but he won't spell it out further, as of yet. Keep in mind he said no comment next week and now he's been posting up a storm of comments alluding to what the heart of the matter is.
  
• And now, despite protests to the contrary only a matter of weeks ago, JG Jones has obviously NOT been on schedule with his artwork for Final Crisis, as revealed now by Carlos Pacheco being added to the series as of Final Crisis #4.
  
• Kinda indicates that Grant Morrison was full of it when he protested that things were way too far gone for them to have adjusted anything to meet up with where Countdown to Final Crisis left things. It wasn't a combination of things, it was simply the lack of desire to change things. Again, nothing wrong with that on his part. Should have left it at "I didn't want to" rather than trying to say circumstances made it too difficult.
  

Man, I wish there was someone that comic notables felt that they HAD to submit to being interviewed by and could press for firm answers (without being spat upon by half of the fans out there).

You know what is a shame? I find the mysteries of Marvel_b0y (still) and exactly what the fuck is happening at DC more compelling than the comic book event series at either company.

Chuck Dixon Was Fired

Reading the blog over at Comics Should Be Good, it appears that Dixon was fired and that he has some serious issues with Dan Didio.

Countdown was Didio's baby. Giving Morrison the keys to the entire universe was his call. Letting him be uncommunicative about whatever changes he was making to the FC story in such a way that it screwed up the flow between Countdown & FC likely had the fault shared between Didio and Berganza.

I've appreciated many of the strides that DC made under Didio, but Countdown was his clusterf*ck and he follows that up by failing to make his people ensure that they bounced back. If you believe Valerie D'Orazio's picture of what happens when a series bombs (like she described with Titans), it appears that the editorial staff may have been too busy whispering jokes back and forth about how bad Countdown was doing and how bad Carlin looked in many of his Newsarama interviews, so more stupid mistakes were missed along the way.