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

[Dred]

I don't know. I really think something's missing. I doubt anyone would write Wally covering a murderous accident while incriminating other people. There must be more to it. Mainly, I just can't believe DC and Tom King would do this.

You'd be better off to stop believing DC wouldn't do anything to Wally. The people running DC have come right out and espoused their dislike of Wally. Didio hates his fans ever since he first fucked Wally over.

[qwertyuiop1998]

I actually new to comics( Just started reading in recent few years) But I'm sure there will be have some more/same hated writers in comic books history

[RBerman]

I've just come to Tom King's work in the last few months and have only read his four 12-issue series (Sheriff of Babylon, Mister Miracle, The Omega Men, and The Vision). I love how they comment on each other and reinforce the same themes through examination from different angles. I can see how those who are more interested in continuity than theme would be enraged if, for instance, the wholescale slaughter of the Fourth World characters depicted in Mister Miracle were forever canon. Perhaps King belongs on less central characters and creator-owned work where the implications of his stories won't cause apoplexy in continuity-driven fans. This is what drives many of the most creative writers away from Marvel and DC's core titles.

[kurenai24]

Bendis can't breathe without getting hate, and since he's a part of DC, it kind of makes this thread's title question seem premature as there is no one hated more than Bendis (except Didio) ...not even Tom King.

Once Tom King's fake deep mini/maxi series stop being complimented and praised then we can talk since that's what Tom King is known for.

[skyvolt2000]

(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.

You never met Bendis?

I have seen a video demanding Dan be fired for hiring him.

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.

He has gotten quite a few.

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

Black Panther has Oscars and is still HATED by folks.

[EsotericFailures]

Most prominent writers get a lot of hate. Morrison received visceral hatred during Final Crisis and Batman RIP and is now considered to be one of DC's greats by most. Once the Wally nonsense gets retconned and we have more distance from the wedding the hatred of King will subside.

Black Panther has Oscars and is still HATED by folks.

Black Panther made more money in the US than Titanic. Get outside the internet and you'll find it's almost universally beloved.

Internet hate=/=real hate.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Well, he may be the writer least deserving of an insane amount of hate. Heroes in Crisis is very clearly a gigantic misstep (especially re: Wally West) but most of the rest of the stuff he's done ranges from good to excellent. I understand why his Batman has been controversial (I really like it, though) but his Mister Miracle, Omega Men, Vision, Sheriff of Babylon and his short stories in the Swamp Thing Special and one of DC's Holiday Special have been nothing short of exceptional.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

Once the Wally nonsense gets retconned and we have more distance from the wedding the hatred of King will subside.

My money says they'll get married in #100. It'll still happen. I buy Batman because it's Batman, I've been reading it since 1990 and I can say I haven't disliked it this much since maybe the Moench/Jones run in the 500's. Still, he has not destroyed Batman.

What he did to Wally though is garbage. I would guess though if we had social media in the early 90's like we do now, Marz probably would have gotten the same for Hal. At least that was somewhat believeable to me.

[Vampire Savior]

He has gotten quite a few.

Well, where are they?

Anyway, I'm sure it wasn't Tom King's idea to do what he did to Wally West. That was editorial. He just took the job. I wouldn't have, but he did.

[EsotericFailures]

My money says they'll get married in #100. It'll still happen. I buy Batman because it's Batman, I've been reading it since 1990 and I can say I haven't disliked it this much since maybe the Moench/Jones run in the 500's. Still, he has not destroyed Batman.

I haven't read it but I can't think of a major Batman writer who hasn't gotten mixed reactions like this at first. Again, I remember how much people absolutely despised everything about Morrison and there was plenty of rage about Snyder too. I guess everyone agreed that Tony Daniel was bad but he was never the head Batman writer.

What he did to Wally though is garbage. I would guess though if we had social media in the early 90's like we do now, Marz probably would have gotten the same for Hal. At least that was somewhat believeable to me.

Well there was HEAT. Maybe we'll get a WEAT.

[Frontier]

Bendis can't breathe without getting hate, and since he's a part of DC, it kind of makes this thread's title question seem premature as there is no one hated more than Bendis (except Didio) ...not even Tom King.

Once Tom King's fake deep mini/maxi series stop being complimented and praised then we can talk since that's what Tom King is known for.

You never met Bendis?

I have seen a video demanding Dan be fired for hiring him.

Speaking of Bendis...seems like Heroes in Crisis is King's Civil War II moment, even though in practice it's more Disassembled.

[Talon1load]

I haven't read it but I can't think of a major Batman writer who hasn't gotten mixed reactions like this at first. Again, I remember how much people absolutely despised everything about Morrison and there was plenty of rage about Snyder too. I guess everyone agreed that Tony Daniel was bad but he was never the head Batman writer.

You make it sound like his run has just started. He's 70 issues into this run and has been pretty divisive throughout the entire thing.

[AnakinFlair]

I don't know. I really think something's missing. I doubt anyone would write Wally covering a murderous accident while incriminating other people. There must be more to it. Mainly, I just can't believe DC and Tom King would do this.

Why not? Since they brought Barry back, DC has done everything in their power to erase Wally from existence (Literally! They ERASED HIM FROM EXISTENCE!). And when the fans kept demanding that they bring him back, they finally did- kinda. They brought him back in Titans, then did almost nothing with him, then turned him into a murderer to finally get the readers to turn against him.

Also, it still makes no damn sense since the event immediately preceding HIC made it so Speedsters COULDN'T TIME TRAVEL ANYMORE!

I don't agree with death threats against anyone, but between what King's done to Wally, Dick, Batman and Selena, he needs to either fuck off or go back to small niche books that few people read. He made me realize that I liked Cry for Justice more than Heroes in Crisis, and I HATE Cry for Justice with a fiery vengeance from the depths of HELL.

[Black Manta]

How much is the writer to blame? Dissembled still bothers me but was it Bendis' idea? I'm guessing someone in management wanted Spidey and Wolverine in the Avengers and hired Bendis to write it.

[Flash Gordon]

Eh just a small group of weirdos hate him, and that is mostly because they're buying out of habit and reading stuff that upsets them. It's sad how many people just do stuff out of sheer habit. He's a high profile writer, and a good writer- comes with being on the top.

I've liked stuff he's done but I have no interest in anything he's been currently doing. I tried to stick with his Batman, when it is good it is really good, but the other 75% of it is frustratingly dull. Hopefully he'll do something cool again at some point.

James Robinson is a favorite of mine, but he also wrote Cry for Justice and some other awful stuff. It happens.