Dan Didio talks about JMS

[Jan]

Found in a Newsarama interview with Dan Didio:

17. Knowing that he is quite busy between what heÆs doing between Hollywood and what heÆs already committed to with DC, have there been talks with J. Michael Straczynski about continuing Babylon 5 in comics?

DD: No there havenÆt, but weÆve talked with Joe about a number of projects, so much so that one of the projects that we were rolling out, we actually changed: in his preparing Brave and Bold, Joe was having a lot of fun teaming characters from the DCU together. The original plan was to roll out and introduce the Red Circle characters inside the series, but what weÆre going to do, rather than the original plan, is stay with the tone that was established with the Brave and Bold û that is, team ups between DC characters. He was really excited about that idea from the start, so it makes sense to keep things the way they are for that series. But at the same time, heÆs really excited about the Red Circle characters û so much so û that heÆs going to be writing a series of one shots later this year to introduce all of those to the readers too.

NRAMA: So the one shots will be the introductions to the characters to the DCU?

DD: What happened was that Joe really wanted to give a lot of time to establishing the origins and reintroduce the characters in the proper format. So, realistically, rather than doing so in a team up, he felt that they all deserved their own individual spotlights, and thatÆs how heÆs establishing it. That being said, every story thatÆs told does have the flavor of the DCU either in locations or other characters that might be appearing in them.

NRAMA: Before we move away from Joe û there is the current, and rather successful trend of bringing back television shows as comics with the original creators attached. It seems like a no-brainer that more Babylon 5 is one of the avenues that should be explored with him...

DD: IÆm always wide open for whenever he wants to discuss it. I think he already knows this, but IÆll mention it again û I have every single episode of Babylon 5 on DVD> IÆm a huge fan of the show, so itÆs an easy thing for me to see happening, but itÆs really dependant on his schedule and the stories that heÆs looking to tell.

Jan

[JasonDavis]

Well, with Frank Spotnitz writing X-Files, Rockne O'Bannon doing Farscape, and Eric Kripke on Supernatural's comic, I think it's about time we get one of the earliest showrunner/comic writer combos back into action...

[sftv]

Comics stuff

Jan caught that mention pretty quick...

The change in approach on Brave & the Bold might be why Joe's run hasn't been solicited yet.

As a side note on Jason's comment, Spotnitz only did the three issues of the X-Files (0,1 & 2), with other writers taking it on afterwards (Marv Wolfman for issues 3 & 4 & Doug Moench listed for issue 5).

I imagine when Joe is ready to tell a B5 story again in comics, DC will likely accomodate him.

Lee

[Clark Kent]

I hope JMS gets to take a crack at his favorite, and mine, superhero -- Superman. I'd love to see him get an out-of-continuity chance, ala All-Star Superman, to do what he's always wanted to do with the character.

[JasonDavis]

I was remiss in my previous post -- I forgot to mention Joss Whedon, who, of course, is supervising (and contributing) to the continuation of Angel, Buffy, and Firefly in comic book form, accompanied by a host of his Mutant Enemy colleagues.

To my mind, that would be the perfect model for a B5 comic -- Joe writes them when he can and Fiona Avery, Peter David, et al fill in the gaps.

[glindros]

I was remiss in my previous post -- I forgot to mention Joss Whedon, who, of course, is supervising (and contributing) to the continuation of Angel, Buffy, and Firefly in comic book form, accompanied by a host of his Mutant Enemy colleagues.

To my mind, that would be the perfect model for a B5 comic -- Joe writes them when he can and Fiona Avery, Peter David, et al fill in the gaps.

Well now we know what our wish for the new year should be.

[Karachi Vyce]

Dan Didio is in a race to see if he can screw up D.C. as effectively as Quesada has screwed up Marvel.

He's doing a pretty decent job of it, too.

[glindros]

Dan Didio is in a race to see if he can screw up D.C. as effectively as Quesada has screwed up Marvel.

He's doing a pretty decent job of it, too.

I agree, but stability doesn't sell books, change does. Some choices really vex me though. I'm a LSH fan, and believe me, I've had about as much change as I can handle, with more on the way I'm told

[Karachi Vyce]

I agree, but stability doesn't sell books, change does. Some choices really vex me though. I'm a LSH fan, and believe me, I've had about as much change as I can handle, with more on the way I'm told

There's a longer rant I need to write up about this, but there's a difference between changing things up OCCASIONALLY, EVERY FEW YEARS OR SO to keep things interesting, and completely reinventing your entire comic book universe every six months, which is exactly what Marvel has been doing for the last three or four years, and Didio has been trying to do with D.C., only with a slightly slower schedule. Marvel no longer has anything even remotely resembling continuity anymore.

Plus he's responsible for some severely retarded moves in the past few years. One glaring example: what he did to Batgirl. Unforgivable.

[raw_bean]

If that's the way you feel, rather than rail at the men at the top you need to go and persuade the comics-buying population to stop making these big event books such huge successes. They wouldn't keep making them if people didn't keep buying them.

[Doom Shepherd]

I'd stop them, but my supply of ammunition is limited. Megacrossovers vs. Limited BudgetMan is why I stopped buying most of the big two's comics years ago.

Marvel has, however, recently cancelled the last two of their titles I did read.

The silver lining is that that frees up money for more non-mainstream comic buying. So far, Rex Libris hasn't crossed over with anybody.