DC, What Did You Do This Time?
Well, that was quick. It seems like only yesterday that I was excited about Chuck Dixon returning to write Robin. To add to my enthusiasm, Dixon would also be writing Batman and the Outsiders. Well, here we are 4 issues and a special into his run on Robin, and 7 issues into his run on Batman and the Outsiders, and Dixon is no longer with DC. Yes, the man who has had incredibly long runs on the other Bat-books that he has written is gone after a few months.
When the comment "I am no longer employed by DC," appeared on Dixon's message board, coming from Dixon, there was a lot of speculation as to why this happened. Most of the speculation focused on Didio and Morrison. It appears that some of that speculation is correct. Follow up comments by Dixon appear to indicate that it was something involving Didio.
I have defended DC many times before, but there is not a likely scenario that is defensible. Granted, we do not, and probably will not for a while, know exactly what happened. However, that is probably because what happened stemmed from a creative difference on the direction of either of the books Dixon was writing. When it was announced that Dixon would be returning, he said that he was excited about immediately being handed a major story to be a part of. I doubt the return of Stephanie Brown, Spoiler, was that big event. What that leads me to believe is that Didio either did not tell him everything that was going to happen in Batman RIP, or Didio just flat out lied. Adding to speculation that this has something to do with Batman RIP is the lack of details emerging from either side. To say that "Chuck Dixon was not happy that Tim becomes Batman, and Damien becomes Robin," would spoil the story. (Not saying that is going to happen, but that is a popular theory.)
Regardless of the specifics, this does not look good on Didio. Batman RIP is not a storyline that just recently came up, and they decided to immediately run with. It has been in the works for quite some time. Long enough that how things would end should have been known by all involved. Once it is understood what is expected of everyone, that is how things should proceed. Whether Didio was not honest with Dixon on how Robin would be after RIP, or if he allowed things to change after everything was agreed upon shows a complete lack of editorial leadership. It is Didio's job to keep everything straight in DC, and that does include sticking with the plan. When in charge of a large universe of characters, spanning multiple books, there needs to be a clearly defined direction. If that means telling a writer that he cannot change things, and needs to stick to the original plan, then so be it.
In conclusion, this may be completely wrong and off-base. If it is, the I will apologize on here. However, I doubt I will ever need to do that.
2 comments:
Of course, it may be that Dixon wanted to do something and it was turned down because of a conflicting story. I'm doubting that RIP was the catalyst, since as you said, it's been well planned in advance. Dixon no doubt knew what he was getting into.
My thoughts are that this may be of equal fault to both parties, which is why no one's talking.
Am I defending DC? Wow.
Even if that is the case, one would think that Didio would have inquired about Dixon's plans for the book. Long term vision for the company should fall under his jurisdiction. Yes, it might have been Dixon that changed his mind. And if it becomes known that that is the case, I will apologize to Didio.
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