Writers who the management should have removed

[Trey Strain]

Name some examples.

The criteria: The guy was just not working out on the title, and everyone except DC's management seemed to know it. But for some reason they let him write it so long that he did real damage to it.

[ed2962]

Well, what are we really talking about here? I mean, I can name writers that I personally feel were a poor fit for the titles they were on, but if they were on it more than an arc or two it's cause they were probably meeting sales expectations hence, there'd be no problem in management's eyes.

[Trey Strain]

Well, what are we really talking about here? I mean, I can name writers that I personally feel were a poor fit for the titles they were on, but if they were on it more than an arc or two it's cause they were probably meeting sales expectations hence, there'd be no problem in management's eyes.

If a guy did damage to a title, and it was clear he was going to, then he was left on it for too long.

[JackDaw]

Hitch on Justice League.

Putting anybody other than a really good writer on writing duties on one of DC’s flagship properties was just daft. It was never going to work really well...and didn’t.

Did it cause real damage? Maybe not...suppose Justice League is near bomb-proof...but I doubt many long term League fans were pleased when Hitch was put on as writer, and nobody could be surprised when a good run didn’t come about.

[MajorHoy]

How are you separating out what is strictly the fault of the writer and what is the fault of editorial direction/interference?
And why do you say "management should have removed" when it could just as easily be a case where the management itself should have been removed?

[Osiris-Rex]

How are you separating out what is strictly the fault of the writer and what is the fault of editorial direction/interference?
And why do you say "management should have removed" when it could just as easily be a case where the management itself should have been removed?

I'd say Len Wein. He was the editor that allowed Alan Moore to cripple Barbara Gordon. No Len Wein and Barbara remains hale and hearty.

[Trey Strain]

How are you separating out what is strictly the fault of the writer and what is the fault of editorial direction/interference?
And why do you say "management should have removed" when it could just as easily be a case where the management itself should have been removed?

People can make a judgment as to whether a writer did a bad job of writing what he was handed. If the assignment sucked, then you can't much blame the writer.

And if the management failed to get a writer off a comic, then of course the management was more to blame than the writer was.

[MRP]

I'd say Len Wein. He was the editor that allowed Alan Moore to cripple Barbara Gordon. No Len Wein and Barbara remains hale and hearty.

Except Killing Joke was never meant to be an in-continuity story, no more so than Dark Knight Returns. I was not Wein, but the Batman office headed by O'Neill who decided to take a one off story and mold the ongoing Batman continuity around it. That's not on the people involved with The Killing Joke, it was the Bat-office playing to the fan mentality that stories have to be in continuity to be important instead of being able to stand on their own merits (or lack thereof) as a story.

-M

[Buried Alien]

Except Killing Joke was never meant to be an in-continuity story, no more so than Dark Knight Returns. I was not Wein, but the Batman office headed by O'Neill who decided to take a one off story and mold the ongoing Batman continuity around it. That's not on the people involved with The Killing Joke, it was the Bat-office playing to the fan mentality that stories have to be in continuity to be important instead of being able to stand on their own merits (or lack thereof) as a story.

-M

Come to think of it, even Jason Todd's death seemed to be an idea planted in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS a few years before it became a story in the regular Bat-continuity.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Zero Hunter]

I'd say Len Wein. He was the editor that allowed Alan Moore to cripple Barbara Gordon. No Len Wein and Barbara remains hale and hearty.

On the flip side Barbara was 100% a better character after becoming Oracle that she ever was as Batgirl. I would argue it was the editor that undid that and made her Batgirl again that made things worse.

[Buried Alien]

On the flip side Barbara was 100% a better character after becoming Oracle that she ever was as Batgirl. I would argue it was the editor that undid that and made her Batgirl again that made things worse.

I don't know. I've always had reservations about the idea that it's necessary to take out somebody's legs and confine her to a wheelchair to make her a better character. I'd have preferred for the writers to have just written Barbara better as Batgirl than to maim her for a quarter century.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Osiris-Rex]

I don't know. I've always had reservations about the idea that it's necessary to take out somebody's legs and confine her to a wheelchair to make her a better character. I'd have preferred for the writers to have just written Barbara better as Batgirl than to maim her for a quarter century.

If they wanted an Oracle character they should have just created Oracle as a brand new character. TKJ should never have been canon.

[The Dying Detective]

If they wanted an Oracle character they should have just created Oracle as a brand new character. TKJ should never have been canon.

Or make Oracle an identity Barbara takes one to signify that she had grown up.

[Agent Z]

I don't know. I've always had reservations about the idea that it's necessary to take out somebody's legs and confine her to a wheelchair to make her a better character. I'd have preferred for the writers to have just written Barbara better as Batgirl than to maim her for a quarter century.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

She wasn't Batgirl when she got shot.

[Buried Alien]

She wasn't Batgirl when she got shot.

Yeah...she was in that weird, but relatively brief limbo period when she had freshly given up the Batgirl role, but hadn't become Oracle yet. The writers probably didn't know what to do with her, but wanted to keep her around in some capacity. I'm not a fan of the route they took.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)