Creative talent that DC should lock down

[Cowtools]

I just read that Ben Caldwell - the supremely talented artist of Prez - is going to be drawing A-Force for Marvel.

This bums me out, because Dc has lost a great artist, that they could have put on a book that suited his style. Something similar in tone to Batgirl maybe, or something similarly futuristic and teen-focused like a Legion book.

DC also let Charles Soule sign an exclusive deal with Marvel, which was a bummer.
Meanwhile Marvel is making waves by signing non-comic notables like Ta-Nehisi Coates to do a Black Panther book, which is a great match.

Who else out there - not just comic creators, but fan artists, novelists, journalists, etc - should DC try to get on board? And what book should they be one?

For one, DC should lock Tom King down ASAP.
Also, I think some popular Young Adult authors like Susanne Collins and Scott Westerfeld would be an attention-grabbing fit for darker-hued teen books.

Thoughts?

[liwanag]

i agree. it kinda sucks that dc has lost a lot of good artists to marvel lately.

well at least brian hitch has his jla.

dc should definitely lock down tom king.

[Cowtools]

They have Brian Hitch... and they put him on an easy-to-ignore book that might as well not be in continuity. I suppose that's what he wanted to write, but it still seems like a missed opportunity to hype one of their regular titles.

And speaking of not-in-continuity books, DC should put Max Landis on a Superman ongoing.

[Bruce Wayne]

I just read that Ben Caldwell - the supremely talented artist of Prez - is going to be drawing A-Force for Marvel.

A supremely talented artist that DC was putting on a low selling C/D-list book. Giving him an exclusive would be an absolute waste of both sides resources. DC would just continue to put him on c/d-list books or doing fill-in. Both of which are absolutely criminal.

The same thing for Tom King or Chuck Soule or even Jeff Lemire. DC was only willing to give them C or D list books, and even then they had strings attached with massive editorial interference that clearly no one wanted such as was the case with Superman/Wonder Woman.

It's pretty clear why writers don't sign on to this type of **** when Marvel can offer them better, but in DC's view it seems to them all writer are dispensable and the Kings, Soules and Lemires can just be easily be replaced with someone like Manapul/Tomasi/Finch/Nocienti. So why sign exclusives when you can get anyone including people who have no writing experience to do a book (ex. Meredith Finch).

They have Brian Hitch... and they put him on an easy-to-ignore book that might as well not be in continuity. I suppose that's what he wanted to write, but it still seems like a missed opportunity to hype one of their regular titles.

Why would you give an artist with little writing experience a writing job of actual significance? Have you seen the damage Daniel or Liefeld did during the early days of Nu52 ? It's pretty clear they don't want that given they fired Liefeld's editor for giving him so many jobs.

TheyAnd speaking of not-in-continuity books, DC should put Max Landis on a Superman ongoing.

And completely missing the fact Landis has a different set of editors while Yang and Pak has normal Superman editorial interfering with their scripts and outlines. If we skip the whole issue of Landis probably getting off due to his family name then I'd point out if Paki/Yang and Landis traded places you would probably see the same results: dismal writing on the Superman ongoing and good writing on the standalone mini. Because it's not the writer's fault they are sacked with a terrible editor who thinks he is a writer.

[Tayswift]

I don't understand all the love for soule, that is a average writer.

tom king, tim seeley, genevieve valentine, david lafuente, mikel janin, jorge jimenez

[Bruce Wayne]

Because prior to skipping over to Marvel, he turned Red Lanterns around to be an excellent Guy book, wrote a better run on ST than Snyder and was doing a potentially interesting run on TBs with Marvel. A lot of it on the DC side has to do imo with the fact that he had a very good editor.

[Starchild]

Tom King, Renae De Liz, Frank Tieri, Steve Orlando, Mark Russell, Amy Chu, Jorge Jimenez, Cullen Bunn, Yang, Aaron Kuder, Jeff Parker, Brendan Fletcher, Rob Williams, Jason Fabok, Annie Wu. There's a lot of creative talent at DC than what fans care to admit. But Marvel still has them beat. They have G. Willow Wilson, Jeff Lemire, Charles Soule, Nick Spencer, Andrea Sorrentino, etc. DC doesn't have books that are on par with Ultimates, Spider-Gwen, All-New Captain America or even Weirdworld. Marvel is superior when it comes to quality right now. DC just simply can't compete, but they do try.


I do love the fact that DC still works with legendary talent. But they need more newbies.

[napolid]

I don't understand all the love for soule, that is a average writer.

tom king, tim seeley, genevieve valentine, david lafuente, mikel janin, jorge jimenez

Soule is great.

[SmokeMonster]

Not that screenwriters always make for great comic writers, but imo they should look for more talents like Max Landis, talented guys who are passionate about the characters and would love to get a chance to write their favorite DC character if someone just asked. I sort of even get the sense that Landis would have written American Alien for free.

DC also needs to find better artists ASAP. It's not hard. There are thousands of young talented artists out there begging for work. They just need someone to come give them a shot. Just ask Mark Doyle where he finds them.

[Paper Monkey]

I've enjoyed Joe Hill's Locke & Key. I imagine Hill has a busy schedule, but I would like to see DC offer him something for the Vertigo line. I would love to see Joshua Hale Fialkov also do some work for Vertigo, but I can't imagine him ever wanting to come back to work for DC.

[Lee Stone]

My opinion...

There's only three creators they care not to lose.
And to them, everyone else is expendable.

[Bri]

I've enjoyed Joe Hill's Locke & Key. I imagine Hill has a busy schedule, but I would like to see DC offer him something for the Vertigo line. I would love to see Joshua Hale Fialkov also do some work for Vertigo, but I can't imagine him ever wanting to come back to work for DC.

Joe Hill would be welcome on any DC title (or Marvel). You should check out his novel NOS4A2, which is great. There is also an original graphic novel tie in by Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

[Cowtools]

A supremely talented artist that DC was putting on a low selling C/D-list book. Giving him an exclusive would be an absolute waste of both sides resources. DC would just continue to put him on c/d-list books or doing fill-in. Both of which are absolutely criminal.

The same thing for Tom King or Chuck Soule or even Jeff Lemire. DC was only willing to give them C or D list books, and even then they had strings attached with massive editorial interference that clearly no one wanted such as was the case with Superman/Wonder Woman.

It's pretty clear why writers don't sign on to this type of **** when Marvel can offer them better, but in DC's view it seems to them all writer are dispensable and the Kings, Soules and Lemires can just be easily be replaced with someone like Manapul/Tomasi/Finch/Nocienti. So why sign exclusives when you can get anyone including people who have no writing experience to do a book (ex. Meredith Finch).

Why would you give an artist with little writing experience a writing job of actual significance? Have you seen the damage Daniel or Liefeld did during the early days of Nu52 ? It's pretty clear they don't want that given they fired Liefeld's editor for giving him so many jobs.

And completely missing the fact Landis has a different set of editors while Yang and Pak has normal Superman editorial interfering with their scripts and outlines. If we skip the whole issue of Landis probably getting off due to his family name then I'd point out if Paki/Yang and Landis traded places you would probably see the same results: dismal writing on the Superman ongoing and good writing on the standalone mini. Because it's not the writer's fault they are sacked with a terrible editor who thinks he is a writer.

Your tone suggests that you're arguing with me, but I can't see where we disagree.
Are you arguing that DC shouldn't bother to try and attract new talent? Or that it wouldn't make a difference with the current editorial regime?

And it has been the practice for a while for new creators to start on a C-list title, and if the reaction is good, they get bumped up to a higher-profile book. That was how people like Johns and Bendis got started way back in the 2000s. Shouldn't DC be doing that now?

[Frontier]

I really hope they keep Jeff Parker and give him something in the upcoming months. He'd probably do well with any title they gave him, and I'd for sure buy it.

[Cowtools]

I don't understand all the love for soule, that is a average writer.

I've been impressed by how he's built up the Inhumans franchise at Marvel, especially after coming in as a fill-in when Fraction departed. Regardless of how well those books sell, the people whole read them (like myself) REALLY love them.

Soule is kinda like Mark Waid: not flashy or idiosyncratic, but he has a knack of locating the essence of the characters and crafting stories around that. Plus he's able to introduce compelling new ideas and characters in a short number of issues, which makes a difference in this age of drawn-out story arcs.