At long last, we have gotten some official reaction to the termination of Dan DiDio, who, until last weekend, served as DC Comics’ co-publisher. DiDio shared that role with Jim Lee, who now acts as DC’s sole publisher. And according to Lee, he will carry on in that role solo. He also seemingly shot down rumors that DC Comics would be shut down, as was buzzed last weekend.
Lee made his first public appearance post-DiDio at this weekend’s C2E2 2020, where he presented a spotlight panel, where he revealed:
“There’s continually new things going on, and I look at being sole publisher now and the team I’m working with. Much more in trenches now than ever before.
“We’ve been with Warner Bros. for decades. The actual strategy for DC is to put publishing at center of what we do. It’s the engine of all the movies, TV, cartoons, we do. And so its my intent going forward as the Publisher, to lean into the collective years of my team.”
He also cautioned:
“To address some of the stuff that is out there, there’s rumors… speculation. I wouldn’t put any credence into it. DC has been around for 85 years, and we’ll be around for another 85 years. I hope to be doing this panel in 85 years.”
DC is rebooting its history again this summer in the crossover event that is currently referred to as “Generation 5” or “5G,” which will reportedly restore every past version of DC’s labyrinthine continuity, but in doing so, will affix certain characters to specific times. So because Superman first appeared in 1938, the Superman in the comics did so as well, meaning that the original Clark Kent is no longer Superman, now, 82 years later. So five generations later, new people will occupy the iconic identities of DC’s flagship heroes.
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Reportedly, 5G was a large factor in DiDio’s firing. And according to other rumors, if 5G was not a solid hit, AT&T was going to shut down DC Comics for good, using the characters only in movies, TV and other forms of media.
Though Lee couldn’t say too much, he stated:
“It’s hard to talk about things we haven’t announced. [The] intention [is] not to do a line-wide reboot. Our focus in talking to [the] editorial team is to continue what we’ve done best: Character-driven stories, pairing the right creators on right characters, and developing characters that are inclusive and diverse.”
From the way this sounds, DC isn’t completely overhauling its history, but it seems that 5G — whatever it winds up being — is still on its way. Free Comic Book Day is May 2, this year. DC is releasing ‘Generation Zero: Gods Among Us’ which should shed a lot more light on the future of the comic book universe.
For now, it looks as though Jim Lee is calling all the shots at DC and that the comic book company is going to keep chugging along, business as usual.
Are you relieved that DC doesn’t seem to be in danger?
Source: Newsarama
