"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
Only the structure has changed, it's been streamlined into three separate groups. I don't quite care enough to remember their names, but basically there's the Bob Harras team which is still editorial, a team that actually produces the books which is still under Alison Gill's purview (never heard of this person in my life before, tbh), and brand new team to handle marketing and promotion. In total, 7 people have been laid off, none of which are Didio or Lee, who are still co-publishers, and especially not the President of WB Brands, Lifford (she's also the one in actual charge of DC and likely the one who initiated this whole restructuring). So all in all, it means absolutely nothing.
Everything that's been problematic for us before is likely to be a problem in the future. However, the memo revealing all this promises that DC is returning to its "roots," which is almost comical since it's only been 3 years since the last time that was promised, and it certainly didn't last all that long. Maybe they'll follow through in the short-term (i.e. a Rebirth-style relaunch in fall), or maybe it means absolutely nothing (I mean, even in this scenario we could get a relaunch, it'd just mean the push for it is unrelated to the restructuring). I definitely don't think it'll last in the long-term with the same higher-ups as when DC was supposedly deviating from their "roots" lol.
DiDio is not immortal. Future Nightwing fans will read of the dark times. They will wonder how we kept going on.
I think a company-side relaunch is the only way to go--and actually put some THOUGHT into it, for once. The books need to be more family-friendly. As for Didio surviving yet again . . . it could be worse for Nightwing fans. Imagine if BENDIS replaced Didio: We'd never see Dick, Jason, and Damian again.
Lifford's comments about returning to the roots of the company is simply a mollification and added words to make the bad have some positive light. However, there are rumors of potential editorial shake-ups down the line. Sadly I will agree that hopes of getting Didio and Harras out are furtive at best as they both seem to have quite the foothold in the company. DC truly needs to get a publisher who sees the value of all it's characters and most importantly it's cornerstones and yes Dick Grayson should most definitely be considered one of it's cornerstone characters.
Honestly I'm not convinced this is actually going to affect the comics themselves. Seems more like an effort to streamline production sales, not mess with the product itself. I'm not sure how people feel about DC comics overall these days, so that could be a good thing or a bad thing. For Dick's sake, I was hoping for something-- anything-- to get shaken up with editorial somehow.
Has Bendis ever said anything negative about the other Robins? Hell, has he ever really spoken of his love for Tim? He's writing Tim because he's writing Young Justice and that's Tim's team, but I've never heard of him saying anything about the other guys.
And even if Bendis is lukewarm to Nightwing and doesn't care for him one way or another, that's a site better than Didio, who actively dislikes the character and would rather see him gone completely.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
I'd want to see what King had to say about Nightwing. He did good stuff with Grayson, and what he's done with Dick since he took over Batman.....it's King's job to further Bruce's narrative, not Dick's, and since DC treats Dick like a part of Bruce's world rather than an individual IP I can't totally blame King for using a Batman supporting character (in DC's mind) to advance Bruce's story.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
Bendis has said Tim is the best Robin tho how much of that is PR talk to hype readers is anyones guess. But i think he loves Robin conceptually as well, and that includes every character to hold the mantle.
The current Bat office is more of a problem for Dick then Didio if you ask me. While Didio might not being doing Dick any favors, its the people in the Bat office that are responsible for generating and carrying out new ideas for the character. To a degree Didio position's himself as a lightning rod in part to protect those under him.
Last edited by Godlike13; 01-24-2019 at 02:12 PM.
Is it really that hard to manage 10-14 most important Batfamily members across several books, write to them proper relationships between each other and consistently generate some interesting ideas?