Flash Forward #1 Discussion/Spoilers

[married guy]

DC pretty much treated John Byrne's GENESIS and James Robinson's CRY FOR JUSTICE as DOA, but I don't think DC invested as heavily into either of those as they did for HEROES IN CRISIS.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I'd also like to add, both of those stories were also pretty damn average.
Genesis was a complete waste of time. NOTHING was different at story's end. I remember thinking 'That's it??" when I read it.
When compared to Cry for Justice or Heroes in Crisis though, it's a fucking piece of literary genius.
Cry for Justice is Roy Harper's Heroes in Crisis. DC taking a character and shitting all over them for no real purpose other than because they could.

[married guy]

I just assumed Superboy-Prime had a hissy fit and punched the Source Wall again

Damn that kid and his face exploding, reality altering punches....

[Bored at 3:00AM]

About the underlined section: he probably knew. He probably did it on purpose. But he also probably thought that the final product would have enough quality to have defenders in equal measure to detractors. Of course it doesn't, because not only the story was really, really bad (and it's hard for bad things to have defenders), but at this point even people who either didn't care about or outright dislike Wally got irked by it because, let's face, DC is just being a jerk in this particular case.

About the bolded section: yeah, that probably worked exactly as intended.

I still think you're ascribing a tad too much machiavellian moustache-twirling to Didio, but we both know it's a lost cause for me to try to convince you otherwise

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Damn that kid and his face exploding, reality altering punches....

Still, by a wide margin, the greatest, funniest, yet most appropriate, way to explain away crappy stories ever invented for the comics medium.

[Desmark]

As Rip Hunter said : Punching time. Please.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I still think you're ascribing a tad too much machiavellian moustache-twirling to Didio, but we both know it's a lost cause for me to try to convince you otherwise

Only moustache-twirling.

For his behavior to be machiavellian it would have to be non-obvious.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dred]

I still think you're ascribing a tad too much machiavellian moustache-twirling to Didio, but we both know it's a lost cause for me to try to convince you otherwise

How many times does it have to happen, though? Like he has been at it for 15 years, consistently making every decision he can to screw over Wally, mocking his fans along the way. When is it moustache twirling to you?

[dornwolf]

DC pretty much treated John Byrne's GENESIS and James Robinson's CRY FOR JUSTICE as DOA, but I don't think DC invested as heavily into either of those as they did for HEROES IN CRISIS.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I've always kind of maintained the belief DC is treating it DOA in some ways. Other than Flash Forward and what ever they're trying to do with Harley DC had made sure every book at the time that would've been effected by Heroes in Crisis was other wise cancelled or written in such a way to avoid the fall out.

Titans - Cancelled
Green Arrow - Cancelled
Nightwing - got Ric'd
Flash - Year Oned

They might not out right say anything but avoiding it that hard says a lot.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

How many times does it have to happen, though? Like he has been at it for 15 years, consistently making every decision he can to screw over Wally, mocking his fans along the way. When is it moustache twirling to you?

I honestly don't think Dan Didio is spending any energy thinking about how he can screw over Wally West fans, He just doesn't understand the appeal of the character, much like he doesn't understand the appeal of Dick Grayson, so he keeps trying to get rid of them or warp them into something he likes more. Didio also loves to play the heel, to rile up fans in order to keep them excited and coming back for more. I can think this is a really bad idea without thinking that he is a villain. I think he's just making bad editorial and creative decisions that are alienating fans.

If you want to do so, that's fine. I'm not going to try to change anyone's minds about this kind of stuff anymore.

[Jekyll]

I honestly don't think Dan Didio is spending any energy thinking about how he can screw over Wally West fans, He just doesn't understand the appeal of the character, much like he doesn't understand the appeal of Dick Grayson, so he keeps trying to get rid of them or warp them into something he likes more. Didio also loves to play the heel, to rile up fans in order to keep them excited and coming back for more. I can think this is a really bad idea without thinking that he is a villain. I think he's just making bad editorial and creative decisions that are alienating fans.

If you want to do so, that's fine. I'm not going to try to change anyone's minds about this kind of stuff anymore.

And the problem with him doing that is that fans, like myself, are just going to stop caring. As he has said, his greatest fear is "apathy" well his decisions are the one creating that. There are only so many times you can outrage a fan base.....

[Dred]

I honestly don't think Dan Didio is spending any energy thinking about how he can screw over Wally West fans, He just doesn't understand the appeal of the character, much like he doesn't understand the appeal of Dick Grayson, so he keeps trying to get rid of them or warp them into something he likes more. Didio also loves to play the heel, to rile up fans in order to keep them excited and coming back for more. I can think this is a really bad idea without thinking that he is a villain. I think he's just making bad editorial and creative decisions that are alienating fans.

If you want to do so, that's fine. I'm not going to try to change anyone's minds about this kind of stuff anymore.

Being a jerk and pretending to be a jerk are functionally identical

[Bored at 3:00AM]

And the problem with him doing that is that fans, like myself, are just going to stop caring. As he has said, his greatest fear is "apathy" well his decisions are the one creating that. There are only so many times you can outrage a fan base.....

Agreed. Didio miscalculated and has fallen on his face many times during his tenure at DC. He takes big risks in the hopes they'll pay off, and often falls flat on his face. He's alienated creators with his editorial edicts, disorganization, and false promises. Yet, some of the gambles he's taken have paid off big enough for him that he's managed to hold on to his job longer than almost all of his predecessors.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Being a jerk and pretending to be a jerk are functionally identical

Sure. If calling Didio a jerk makes you feel better, go right ahead. I'll stick to criticizing his editorial screw-ups. Making it personal doesn't really interest me, because I don't really know the man. I don't know how many of the many rumors that have circulated about him are true. Some of them probably are, some of them probably aren't. He's certainly a guy who knows how to piss people off, but he's also been the guy in charge while some of my favorite DC stuff has gotten published.

Didio's reign has been very similar to Jim Shooter's at Marvel, who was, by many reports, an insufferable dictatorial jerk, but one oversaw some of the best stuff that company has ever produced. When the results Shooter was producing weren't worth it anymore, he got replaced. I'm sure the same will be true of Didio, even if he's proven himself to be a more politically savvy corporate animal than Shooter ever was.

[BohemiaDrinker]

He's certainly a guy who knows how to piss people off.

Yes, and he does it on purpose.

Furthermore, he does it on purpose even when it's obviously detrimental to the business and creative sides. And that's been kinda proved.

Because he's being a jerk. There's no maneuvering around it.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Yes, and he does it on purpose.

Furthermore, he does it on purpose even when it's obviously detrimental to the business and creative sides. And that's been kinda proved.

Because he's being a jerk. There's no maneuvering around it.

Sure. You guys are perfectly welcome to think he's a jerk.