Has There Ever Been a DC Writer as Hated as Tom King?

[Timothy Hunter]

(Disclaimer: this is not a veiled King hate thread)
(I get a lot of enjoyment out of Tom King's work, personally speaking, but this isn't an attack on him personally, but more of an objective observation.)

Despite his meteroic acclaim at the commencement of his career, King seems one of, if not the most, despised comic writers of the 2010s ( equal to, or even surpassing Bendis) The furor against him has been so extreme that he has received death threats on numerous occasions. While in the fetal stages of his work as a writer, his name was brought up in the headlines of journalistic comic outlets due to the percieved sheer quality of the comics he penned, it can't be helped to feel now a days, the majority of the time he grabs the attention of the comics fandom and press it's due to a plot direction on his part that can be obviously be seen as in poor taste or as Ill advised, ranging from the Wedding, to Luthor torturing Lois Lane in a Walmart comic, to the current debacle with a certain speedster in Heroes in Crisis. It seems evident to me that in spite of King's high position in the industry, and his dedicated, neich fanbase, an overwhelming amount of fans abhore his work.

Thus I'm wondering: Has there ever been a writer at DC Comics as hated as Tom King? I can think of artists in the comics community who have inspired such uproar as Tom King, such as for instance Rob Liefeld, as well as specific storylines ( Identity Crisis, Countdown, DKSA, ASBAR) that are equivalent to Heroes in Crisis's widely panned reception, but the only specific writer I can think of is Chuck Austen, who, despite working on various Superman titles, mainly gained his infamy working at Marvel.

[MajorHoy]

Over at Marvel, maybe JMS for OMD?

[Timothy Hunter]

Over at Marvel, maybe JMS for OMD?

J. Michael Strazynski only has written two storylines that people largely have a problem with. That being One More Day and Sins Past. the rest of his bibliography is considered generally good, and when there is a blunder (maybe his take on Doctor Strange or his Superman) it doesn't muster up Tom King Batman level of outrage from readers.

[Badou]

Yeah, Chuck Austen for his X-Men run and JMS for his awful Sins Past and OMD stories are what came to my mind. It is usually Marvel writers that get the most hate from my experience and I can't think of too many DC writers that get a ton of hate the same way. X-Men writers tend to get a lot of hate from what I've seen compared to other properties. A Bendis is up there too, especially given how long he has been writing, but King probably is at the top overall at the moment.

The amount of truly awful things King has done to characters people are fanatical about in the last 2 years is kind of crazy. Can't think of another writer doing this much in such a short time. Teasing the Batman and Catwoman wedding for such a long time (even selling special wedding albums for it) and then not having them get married, shooting Dick Grayson in the head and causing the awful Ric Grayson story, all the terrible things he did to Wally and the heroes he had Wally kill in Heroes in Crisis, and then that disturbing Walmart story about Lex torturing Lois and killing her I think. The amount of hate he gets, even the death threats, isn't exactly a surprise given all this. This kind of antagonizing writing attracts the worst aspects of the comic fandom, imo, but this is the kind of writing Didio is on record saying he likes.

So King is probably the most hated writer but Didio is the most hated figure overall I would say.

[Jekyll]

Over at Marvel, maybe JMS for OMD?

Didn’t he leave OMD before it was finished ? I was under the impression that was more editorial and specifically Joe Quesada that received most of the outrage and blame. Now, Sins Past was absolutely JMS.

[CaptCleghorn]

I would say Tom King is a very VERY controversial writer. He rarely goes by the numbers and his work is judged on the extremes of excellent and horrible. I offer up Omega Men and Mister Miracle as examples of his more acclaimed work. Omega Men is on my shelf but Mister Miracle was easily one of the best series I've ever read.

King swings for the fences and he either wins big or loses big.

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

Hate is such a cruel world but unfortunately Ron Marz had his fair share of loonies threatening him when Hal Jordan was killed.

[Yoda]

Dan Slott got crap for years didn't he on Spider-Man? Chuck Austen got fired from Action Comics and basically blacklisted from comics because retailers were going to refuse to buy any Superman book until he was off.

Ron Marz had a whole movement built up. They even had an acronym, H.E.A.T.! Tom King hasn't gotten an arconym against him yet!

[Vampire Savior]

Despite his meteroic acclaim at the commencement of his career, King seems one of, if not the most, despised comic writers of the 2010s ( equal to, or even surpassing Bendis) The furor against him has been so extreme that he has received death threats on numerous occasions.

Can you show these death threats?

I often hear of so-and-so getting death threats, rape threats, and so on, but I have never once seen one. I'd like to see what these threats actually look like if they're there.

[Vinsanity]

Can you show these death threats?

I often hear of so-and-so getting death threats, rape threats, and so on, but I have never once seen one. I'd like to see what these threats actually look like if they're there.

Really, dude?

[byrd156]

Didn’t he leave OMD before it was finished ? I was under the impression that was more editorial and specifically Joe Quesada that received most of the outrage and blame. Now, Sins Past was absolutely JMS.

Both got hate for it.

[Lee Stone]

Really, dude?

Right?
I really don't think King would lie about something like that.
And I wouldn't want to give the person that did it the privilege of a spotlight.
Same reason why I detest the 'Cops' show.

[Godlike13]

Ya, Tom King’s hated...goes and looks at the 2019 Eisner nominations.

[Dred]

Dan Didio is DC's most hated writer. He's also an editor, but he's a writer too.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Despite his meteroic acclaim at the commencement of his career, King seems one of, if not the most, despised comic writers of the 2010s ( equal to, or even surpassing Bendis)

Whaaaa? No, he absolutely does not. Most people still seem to think King is a good writer, despite HiC #8. I still think he's a good writer. His Mr. Miracle is amazing!