Originally Posted by
BohemiaDrinker
Okay, that is not so simple.
First thing here is that WB and DC are not technically the same company and, while since DCEntertainment was founded, WB does have a little bit more of a hands on approach - and the move to Burbank is a big evidence of that - the comics division is usually left to it's own devices as long as it delivers.
Now, Dan first entered DC exactly to follow orders from WB, way back when. And as long as he does at his bosses are telling him, he's pretty much left to his own devices. And he always performed: under his regime a lot of new IPs were created - some more successful outside of comics than inside - several attempts at synergy were made (all of them pretty much failed, because synergy is not really a think that works with comics) and the guy was slick enough, and business savvy enough, to maneuver DC out of some pretty dire situations more than once (sure, he created some of those, but don't tell anyone. Have I mentioned that it's year of the villain yet again?). And doing that assured that, when WB decided that it would actually milk the comics division, Dan rose trough the ranks and got Levitz old job (someone else with whom he's said to constantly bust heads). Of course this also has to do with his talent for politics - he eliminated, alienated or downright fired any possible competition for his positions. (And you'll have to excuse me here: there's some **** I know for facts that just doesn't go in a public forum).
Johns, OTOH, has a very complicated story: it's actually pointless to list the many positions he's occupied, but let's just say that that he fell on WB's grace than out of it around the time of the GL movie, went full comics again, fell on WB's grace again with his success in television, fell out of grace with movies, in grace again with movies, etc. There are 3 moments where he had some creative control over the DC line. The first was from right before DCE was founded (he was the one who put Gail Simone back in BoP, for instance) to about a year after the NEW52 - because as CCO he had some say in how properties should look/;feel in order to better sell them to other media, the second was his big movie promotion, a period where he was both Didio's boss and employee and vice versa, and finally Rebirth, which was an emergency measure. But by the time ATT&T bought WB, all accounts indicate that he had already fell out of prestige within the comics side - and the thematic undoing of Rebirth is some indication of that - and most people who care about this stuff theorize that the reason he left his corporate position was to secure his "job". An editorial culling came soon after, as well as a line reduction, which sort of corroborate that.
So, yes, Johns has more clout... but it's Hollywood clout, not comics clout. Dan reigns supreme at the comics division, and even if they personally hated each other (which is not the case, AFAIK), and Geoff threw all his weight and all his influence around, he wouldn't make a dent on Dan right now, at all.
The "how does Didio benefit" is a funny one: as I always say, he has a vision and boy will he enforce it. And the top one flaw in Dan's characters seems to be that he is petty: he is known for completing demolishing creative's contributions when and if they leave DC (or stay) in not so good terms with him. (There's a very old interview here at CBR where Waid answered a question of mine exactly on this mold, I can't find right now). And I believe that Rebirth in particular rubbed him the wrong way.
So, in the case that's pertinent to this thread, the delays on DClock: it may be the case that Didio put put way too much extra time between issues so the status quo that it was supposed to generate never came to fruition. What I think is possible is that Geoff got a little late (as he usually does), Dan made the book bi-monthly (and looking good and understanding while doing it) and then started stripping elements of it so Johns would have to rework it and get more late. Superman and Legion go Bendis, Wally is mandated into HiC and hell, at this point, give the Justice Society to Scott because DClock just doesn't matter anyway. (See the Snyder quote that was later edited out at his request). Shazam getting resolicited to oblivion while "the Shazam who laughs" shows up also doesn't look good.
Johns, OTOH, has no reason to fight this: he's barely a comics writer anymore. I'm pretty sure that most of his income is coming trough the streaming shows and producing movies. He gains nothing by picking a fight he can't win.