New WW Creative Team: Tom King and Daniel Sampere

[Mantis-Ray]

He wrote some Batman comics that I guess didn't portray him as the most alpha level top unbeatable supergod (whose still totally relatable). Which earned him the ire of Batman fans for eternity.

And Heroes in Crisis which from what I gather was pretty terrible hit job on Wally West.

Well its more that Batman was extremally depressed and borderline obsessed with Catwoman after she dumped him at the altar. So Batman went into an extended-ass slump that had him treating his family badly and at one point hitting Tim (which was later retconned a secret communication but still)

So the issue there is he made Batman way too dysfunctional. Plus too much of an obsession with Catwoman.

Like King is generally a good writer, but he's also one of those writers where they have blindspots around certain characters, in that case Catwoman.

[Frontier]

How many Amazonian War Crimes will we see committed in this run?

[Gaius]

I dunno, this just feels like a recipe for disaster to me.

Like, yeah, King is a big name but was so was Brian Azzarello and King has shown on several occasions that he doesn't really write Diana that well, and it already seems like he's playing to his dark and political sensibilities with an Amazon committing mass murder and the whole lot of them getting deported and banned from America. Oh, and Diana is a fugitive and will probably fight a bunch of government agents. Because that's interesting.

And in general I just think he's a bad choice for Superhero ongoings.

That wasn't the main problem with the run even if Batman did come off as incompetent in it.

Well its more that Batman was extremally depressed and borderline obsessed with Catwoman after she dumped him at the altar. So Batman went into an extended-ass slump that had him treating his family badly and at one point hitting Tim (which was later retconned a secret communication but still)

So the issue there is he made Batman way too dysfunctional. Plus too much of an obsession with Catwoman.

Like King is generally a good writer, but he's also one of those writers where they have blindspots around certain characters, in that case Catwoman.

Was partly a joke but yes, I'm aware his Batman run had flaws to it (like Catwoman jobbing the Flashes). Just the circles I saw at the time always seemed to be complaining about stuff like making Batman comes off as "weak".

[Garrac]

How many Amazonian War Crimes will we see committed in this run?

I already expect the murderer to be actually an amazonian, and an important one. Not Donna, because shes handled by Taylor, but maybe Artemis or even Cass

[phonogram12]

As soon as I read about this I immediately came here to see what the reaction would be. I gotta say, I’m impressed (not to mention more than a little shocked) that the reaction is for the most part positive. While I haven’t been a fan of everything the guys written, he has penned some of the best superhero stories since his run on Vision. And the fact that TPTB would put such a high profile name on WW leads me to believe they’re finally supporting the title in a way they haven’t in a long, long time. I haven’t been this excited about the main WW book in forever!

I can’t wait!!!

[Mantis-Ray]

I'm gonna try to be optimistic here.

I'm hoping its more like his Superman work where he finds a good mix of gruff but loving. Both his Superman and Supergirl are defined as being relentlessly preserving and never giving up but also warm and kind when need to be especially when dealing with children.

Meanwhile with Batman you have to have him be all incredibly dark, edgy, and mentally unwell plus his weird hang ups with Catwoman which I hope isn't an issue with Diana.

[Hypo]

Really? Tone wise he and Greg Rucka are in the same wheelhouse. And let’s face it, the Cloonrad run was pretty light hearted fare that didn’t have serious stakes. Sales were soft so clearly the WW audience isn’t sticking around for a book that’s just light hearted adventures. King at least will bring a more serious tone and scale of threats that WW needs.

And there’s also Superman: Up in the Sky besides his Supergirl.

Eh, I think I disagree with you on King and Rucka.

Anyways I think the problems I have with people saying Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow was great so King would work on WW is that there's a through line of angst in WoT - and really through most of King's work - that I don't think really works with WW.

In the context of Supergirl it worked really well, her struggling with the loss of Krypton/family while continuing to age and the pressure of having to live up to Clark's example, that's a good canvas to explore some angst in. Diana is different though, she comes from a place of love, her family is still alive, she knows what her place in the world is etc. So it's not really a serious tone that I'm worried about, it's what is going to be driving that serious tone and I feel like we're gunna be veering into some angst the based off what was announced today.

Anyways we'll see, execution matters a lot too, it's possible he'll go this route and pull it off but based off the few times he's written her in the past - particularly the Batman appearance - I don't really have high hopes.

[BrianWilly]

Ugh. Terrible choice. Bracing myself for Assarello part two.

Referring to an Amazon as an "Amazonian" is already a worrying sign.

[Frontier]

Eh, I think I disagree with you on King and Rucka.

Anyways I think the problems I have with people saying Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow was great so King would work on WW is that there's a through line of angst in WoT - and really through most of King's work - that I don't think really works with WW.

In the context of Supergirl it worked really well, her struggling with the loss of Krypton/family while continuing to age and the pressure of having to live up to Clark's example, that's a good canvas to explore some angst in. Diana is different though, she comes from a place of love, her family is still alive, she knows what her place in the world is etc. So it's not really a serious tone that I'm worried about, it's what is going to be driving that serious tone and I feel like we're gunna be veering into some angst the based off what was announced today.

Anyways we'll see, execution matters a lot too, it's possible he'll go this route and pull it off but based off the few times he's written her in the past - particularly the Batman appearance - I don't really have high hopes.

From the get-go we're starting off with an Amazon committing mass murder and America deporting all Amazons and passing a law to ban them.

I think that really sets the tone here. And I don't think it's a good one.

[Zagre]

Eh, I think I disagree with you on King and Rucka.

Anyways I think the problems I have with people saying Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow was great so King would work on WW is that there's a through line of angst in WoT - and really through most of King's work - that I don't think really works with WW.

In the context of Supergirl it worked really well, her struggling with the loss of Krypton/family while continuing to age and the pressure of having to live up to Clark's example, that's a good canvas to explore some angst in. Diana is different though, she comes from a place of love, her family is still alive, she knows what her place in the world is etc. So it's not really a serious tone that I'm worried about, it's what is going to be driving that serious tone and I feel like we're gunna be veering into some angst the based off what was announced today.

Anyways we'll see, execution matters a lot too, it's possible he'll go this route and pull it off but based off the few times he's written her in the past - particularly the Batman appearance - I don't really have high hopes.

Hopefully he doesn't simply artificially conjure up a tragedy for Diana just so that she can suit his trademark style.

[Dr. Poison]

In the YouTube video posted above, King mentions that a big first appearance happens in WW #800. I hope his run isn't all about brand new villain. Sounds like whoever it is, will be a major player.

[SiegePerilous02]

I will probably trade wait this and keep tabs of the general consensus. I'm not super thrilled about this, but I guess the book does need a big name to shake things up

King also worked on mapping out the new DCEU with Gunn, so this might give us a vibe on what she will be like there, for better or worse

[Hypo]

https://twitter.com/Sampere_art/stat...34983811276801

[Last Son of Krypton]

https://twitter.com/Sampere_art/stat...34983811276801

Wow, beautiful and classic.

[OBrianTallent]

Starting off with Daniel Sampere is a far better artist than I expected us to get on the book. WW's editorial has been in a thing of only picking female artists (with small exception) for the series (and offshoots) and I was really expecting at the least for us to have gotten Skylar Patridge (who would have been welcomed, her art is excellent.) Daniel is a big name though and one I welcome.
King is, as others have said, very hit or miss. His Grayson run was good to great. His Batman run was great to not so good. Supergirl was alright but very out of character. Which is the problem for most of his other work that I have read...out of character. His Heroes in Crisis was exceptionally horrid. The entire concept (and while I understand some of that was down to Didio's insistence, the rest was King's.) He seems to be better work with out of continuity stories.
Also, we have begged for years to get a solid and stable supporting cast and now I have to wonder if we will get any of them sticking around. (It does seem that writing Steve and Etta would be up his alley being they are government agents, but with Diana being banned from the US it leaves it up for question. Also, will we be keeping Sigfried???) Likewise, how will this affect Titans and Donna? Obviously it wont have to affect Yara as she can just stay in South America, but I expect we will get more of her than I care for. Cassie wont be affected as she's pretty much persona non grata at DC. However, Donna on the Titans who are based in Bludhaven, she's known as an Amazon, so this should have some affect as much as it's not wanted.

The one thing that I find interesting in this approach is that it implies there are quite a number of Amazons living in the US. Other than family, I can only think of Hessia from the Superman/Wonder Woman run. There's Grace Choi possibly but has she even been seen since Flashpoint? Who else is out there? King really has the ability and he does plan for the long haul, something that outside of Cloonrad, we really haven't had in a long long time, so as long as he doesn't try to work out his own PTSD and psychosis through the book it could be really really good. I will give it to DC for putting someone who is currently a hot list writer on the book. Now if we can just keep Sampere for the long haul.