Thursday, January 29, 2009

Whats New in the DCU: Didio on Titans


Newsarama's Alex Zalben talks to DC Comics' VP/Executive Editor Dan Didio about what's coming up with Superman, Wonder Woman, the status quo of the Big 3, Flash and Titans/Teen Titans.

Check out the video here.

Didio talks about "Deathtrap": the corruption of Jericho and the "family aspect" of Titans.

posted by Mr Saturday Morning @ 2:31 PM  

5 Comments:

  • At 11:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    He didn't "say" anything, he was just selling comics. As usual. Now, of course he has to do that. But he didn't tell us anything.

    Okay, he sorta said something about Green Lantern and Flash. Hal and Barry are the key interpretations from which Kyle Bart Wally etc spring.

    Um, no. Alan and Jay are the interpretations from which all others spring, and for more than 20 years the "key" interpretation of Flash has been Wally.

    It would be one thing if Dan simply loved Barry and Hal above all others. But it's not as simple as that. As Bart could attest.

    And you're not saying anything new about the "family" aspect of Titans, Dan. Titans have been protecting their own as far back as the silver age. Going up against the Justice League for that purpose is nothing new. Only thing that's new here is you finding new characters to destroy to repeat that theme.

    The Dead Shall rise in Blackest Night? In the right hands, that could be a brilliant way of bringing characters back. In Didio's hands what we'll get is a bunch of evil zombies, regardless of what the characters were like in life.

    Superman and Wonder Woman are going through minor variations of the same story; Superman with the Kryptonians and Wonder Woman with the Olympians. The idea of Superman's people coming back, in and of itself, is a good idea. Under Didio, the execution of it will be horrid.

    Whatever became of the Caped Crusader? Didio destroyed him.

    But as much as I want to blame Didio for everything, there's one thing I can't blame him for. And that is people still buying his comics. He looks at fans as stupid sheep, and as long as fans buy his stuff, he will essentially be right.

     

  • At 11:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Oh yes, one more thing. He's so interested in changing the status quo. He does is so often there is no status quo. Everything is in flux. Just like death fatigue, there's fatigue of that as well. Changing the status quo only means something when you HAVE a status quo for a while.

    The argument can be made that everything in flux emulates real life, but that is a problem in two ways. First of all, it's false. Status quos DO exist in real life, last for a time, and then change. That is the problem with comics today, they never last long enough for the Next Big Change to mean something. Second--and this is where Didio is merely the latest offender, not the innovator--comics try WAY TOO HARD to emulate real life. Superhero comics, at least, are supposed to be a fun fantasy and escape. They've been bogged down in "realistic" problems for far too long. Let heroes live again!

     

  • At 12:06 PM, Blogger Mr Saturday Morning said…

    I agree with all your comments about the constant status-quo changes. TEEN TITANS is a great example of how it's not working (meaning, not translating into sales and increased interest). TEEN TITANS the book, has still not recovered from INFINITE CRISIS, 3 years ago.

    Also, in your comments about "emulating how life is ever-changing", even that becomes ridiculous when you consider how much slower "comic book time" is. Consider all the changes since Didio took over, which, even including ONE YEAR LATER, is only about a year and a half in our heroes' worlds.

     

  • At 12:05 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm ok with Dan. I kinda wish a lot of the people who died hadn't, but that's the way it is.

    I don't get the vibe that Dan makes every decision at DC. I'm sure somebody says, "Hey, here's a good idea!" or "Dan, that's brilliant!"

     

  • At 12:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm sure many people are "ok" with Dan. After all, his contract was renewed.

    I'm sure many people will continue to be "ok" as Dan either initiates or permits dozens more deaths, destruction of many characters and elements post-original Crisis, and either initiates or permits a sort of twisted NC-17 bastardization of those surviving post-original Crisis characters and elements, and not a few pre-original Crisis characters and elements as well.

    I am quite sure that it is correct to beleive that Dan Didio does not do all. But that which he does not do, he has to allow.

    For example, Identity Crisis was written by Brad Meltzer. I am not entirely sure how much of that idea is his and how much is Didio's. But even if it is 100% Meltzer, Didio has to allow it.

    I do know for a fact that Brad Meltzer asked DC who he was allowed to kill and they provided him with a big long list. The source for this information is Brad Meltzer's own interview about said story on Newsarama.

    I don't know how much of Rose Wilson's violation and transformation into Ravager is Dan Didio and how much is Geoff Johns. I don't know how much of the "rainbow lantern corps" concept is Didio and how much is Johns. I don't know how much of the current state of the multiverse is the doing of Didio or Grant Morrison. I don't know how much of the current state of Batman is Didio or Morrison. But ultimately, the buck stops with Didio.

    I will go a step further and say that Dan Didio did not initiate the current DC policy of treating their superheroes as soap opera style characters and/or victims. He merely accelerated it.

    I will take yet another step and agree that it is entirely possible that when the day finally comes when Dan Didio does step down, he may very well be replaced by someone just as bad if not worse. After all, that trend was very much in effect before Didio arrived.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home