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  1. #1
    Boisterously Confused
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    Default The Didio thing...

    I'm not the most industry-tuned in of participants on these boards. I read a lot of unflattering things about Didio around here. I gather he has biases, but no one's ever really specific.

    Now, to be clear, this is not a bashing request. Please be civil.

    What is it that Didio seems to like, and what is it that he seems to hate, and how have these biases turned up in decisions detrimental to DC?

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
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    These aren't concrete. Just my own observations.

    What he seems to like:
    Batman
    Dark Knight Returns
    Watchmen
    Barry Allen
    Hal Jordan
    gore and extreme violence
    DC's villains (specifically the rogues of Batman and Flash)

    What he seems to not like:
    Justice League International
    New Teen Titans
    Legion of Super-Heroes
    Nightwing
    Wally West
    JSA
    DC's b- and c-level heroes (especially those not created out of tragedy)
    Anything that was a hit before his watch (especially any non-Batman title big in the '80s, aside from DKR and Watchmen, which weren't representative of DC at the time)

    Decisions made:
    Killing off Sue Dibny and Elongated Man
    Killing off Blue Beetle
    Character assassination of Maxwell Lord
    Planned killing of Nightwing, but settled for mental damage
    Killing of Wally West (supposed)
    Killing of Arsenal (supposed)
    The running off of Karen Berger and the firing of Shelly Bond.

    When Marv Wolfman sent in his scripts for the Titans Convergence issues, Didio was reported to have said to him, "You really like those characters, don't you?", which some (myself included) have taken to have a condescending tone. Because he does not like those characters.
    Last edited by Lee Stone; 04-17-2019 at 01:30 PM.
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  3. #3
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    Didio fought to keep Jaime Reyes' solo series going from being cancelled despite sales from what I heard. I think that's something to respect.

  4. #4
    Helping the Helpless Denirac's Avatar
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    Ric Grayson exists, thats a Horrible Negative
    Pull List:
    DC: Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood: Outlaw, Detective Comics, Superman, Action Comics, Young Justice, Legion of Superheroes, John Constantine: Hellblazer, Batman Beyond, Dark Nights: Death Metal
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent Z View Post
    Didio fought to keep Jaime Reyes' solo series going from being cancelled despite sales from what I heard. I think that's something to respect.
    And WHERE is Jaime now? That was a good thing years ago but when Jaime, Manhunter and OTHERS needed that support (especially Static) where was he?

    He has done some good things and allowed some interesting choices in series to be made. However when you make those choices at least stand behind them or learn what worked and what didn't.

  6. #6
    Son of Satan DevilBat66's Avatar
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    I was always told when you have nothing nice to say to not say anything at all.




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    Batman - Daredevil

  7. #7
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    He seems to like younger, unmarried, heroes and Silver Age status quo's and less fond of legacy heroes unless they are clearly defined in younger, sidekick, roles with less forward progression.

  8. #8
    insulin4all CaptCleghorn's Avatar
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    I've never liked a universe being directed or guided by a small number of people. To get a universe going the way you want,m you need to direct the connecting series and make them fit your vision. Phooey on that. Let different folks run with different ideas and drape a big universal umbrella/tarp over all of them. When situations and costumes appear to run together, we miss out on a lot of other stuff.

    Didio appears to want to homogenize the DC Universe. Even if you ike that stuff, that's a lot of books to buy.

  9. #9
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    What he seems to like:

    --The heroes and versions of the characters that he existed when he read comics growing up. (With the weird exception being the New Teen Titans)

    What he seems to not like:

    --I wouldn't say "not like", more like "ambivalent towards", and I would say those are the heroes and comics that were around when he was an adult and not reading comic books.

    One day he'll be replaced by someone who grew up with 90's comics and the cycle will continue.

  10. #10
    Boisterously Confused
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    What I'm hearing is a guy that needs to defend his beloved childhood favorites by taking them too seriously, and who needs to prove he's serious by denigrating anything that - as a child - he thought silly.

    Fair?

  11. #11
    Relaunched, not rebooted! SJNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Stone View Post

    What he seems to not like:
    Justice League International
    New Teen Titans
    Legion of Super-Heroes
    Nightwing
    Wally West
    JSA
    DC's b- and c-level heroes (especially those not created out of tragedy)
    Anything that was a hit before his watch (especially any non-Batman title big in the '80s, aside from DKR and Watchmen, which weren't representative of DC at the time)
    I think you can add the planned killing of John Stewart to that list...?
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  12. #12
    Spectacular Member DetectiveStrange's Avatar
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    I agree with a lot that's been said here - I'd also say that DiDio favors tight, interconnected continuity in theory (but in practice, he often changes direction so much that continuity changes with it), and that he wants books to thread into each other with drama and tension. He also wants to make the books more "realistic" and often relies on shock value. I think he tries to use the model of early interconnected, heroes outside your window Marvel for DC.

    Here's a telling quote from Dan: "I went and explained to people why I hated Infinity War. The reason why I hated Infinity War was because they were doing comics better than comics were doing," DiDio told Collider at Comic-Con. "They were telling character stories. They had big epic adventure. They were doing emotional arcs for the characters. It was a real sense of continuity, crossover and creativity going on in a movie that we should have been doing in comics."
    DiDio continued explaining what the problem was.
    "That we were being out done by a movie. And that should never be this case," he said. "So from my standpoint, that became a huge challenge for us a creators, as comic book publishers, because as soon as we see that territory of the continuity, and the connected tissue and the immersive universe and the epicness of our storytelling, and we give that up to any other medium, then we become irrelevant, and that's the last thing we want to see."
    https://cosmicbook.news/dan-didio-hated-infinity-war

    Dan also tends to micromanage and can be aggressive about it. From Mark Waid: "The biggest challenge [of 52] was actually, wisely, kept from us by [editor] Steve [Wacker]. EIC Dan Didio, who first championed the concept, hated what we were doing. H-A-T-E-D 52. Would storm up and down the halls telling everyone how much he hated it. And Steve, God bless him, kept us out of the loop on that particular drama. [Editor Michael] Siglain, having less seniority, was less able to do so, and there's one issue of 52 near the end that was written almost totally by Dan and Keith Giffen because none of the writers could plot it to Dan's satisfaction. Which was and is his prerogative as EIC, but man, there's little more demoralizing than taking the ball down to the one-yard line and then being benched by the guy who kept referring to COUNTDOWN as '52 done right.'"
    https://comicsalliance.com/mark-waid...and-dc-comics/

    I'd argue that while he does give favor to the Silver Characters and their status quo, it's less because he loves those characters (though in some cases, maybe he does), and more because he prefers a very static, concept-driven status quo for DC's major characters, so that they can (in theory) easily translate into other media. I could be wrong, but I suspect he got the job in part because he promised to clear DC of these characters of extra 'baggage' (aka history), and thereby simplifying them as IPs to be used by WB.
    Last edited by DetectiveStrange; 04-17-2019 at 06:52 PM.

  13. #13
    Astonishing Member Stanlos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrNewGod View Post
    I'm not the most industry-tuned in of participants on these boards. I read a lot of unflattering things about Didio around here. I gather he has biases, but no one's ever really specific.

    Now, to be clear, this is not a bashing request. Please be civil.

    What is it that Didio seems to like, and what is it that he seems to hate, and how have these biases turned up in decisions detrimental to DC?
    He seems to vehemently dislike Dick Grayson and absolutely despises WoWo.

  14. #14
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Default

    There's also the problem in that while he hates some characters (Nightwing, for example) and has been shot down, he continues to drive that notion until he gets what he wants.

    Infinite Crisis, Forever Evil and now Ric. Under his reign, there have been massive attempts to get rid of Nightwing and he just will not let it be. He has a peculiar hate-on and will not bow out when proven that he's in the minority regarding that opinion. It just makes him appear more as a dungeon master than EiC. Nightwing is just one example of this and it continues to happen under his reign.

    That said, to be entirely fair, he's also really tried to reach new markets by launching imprints and new concepts to reach new retailers. Credit and blame where it's due. Didio is a mixed bag who is a poor choice for any semblance of creative control. He's overstayed his welcome.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by DetectiveStrange View Post
    Dan also tends to micromanage and can be aggressive about it. From Mark Waid: "The biggest challenge [of 52] was actually, wisely, kept from us by [editor] Steve [Wacker]. EIC Dan Didio, who first championed the concept, hated what we were doing. H-A-T-E-D 52. Would storm up and down the halls telling everyone how much he hated it. And Steve, God bless him, kept us out of the loop on that particular drama. [Editor Michael] Siglain, having less seniority, was less able to do so, and there's one issue of 52 near the end that was written almost totally by Dan and Keith Giffen because none of the writers could plot it to Dan's satisfaction. Which was and is his prerogative as EIC, but man, there's little more demoralizing than taking the ball down to the one-yard line and then being benched by the guy who kept referring to COUNTDOWN as '52 done right.'"
    https://comicsalliance.com/mark-waid...and-dc-comics/

    Didio thinks that COUNTDOWN was 52 done right?!?

    Wow. That's telling. And so sad and bad at the same time as hilarious.

    SMH

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