DC Comics Reportedly Fired Dan DiDio And His Relationship With Scott Snyder Is Said To Be A Key Factor

DC Comics Reportedly Fired Dan DiDio And His Relationship With Scott Snyder Is Said To Be A Key Factor

DC Comics is rumored to be fractured on its upcoming big overhaul that sees legacy characters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman aged-up and retired - with new characters taking on their mantles.

By MarkJulian - Feb 22, 2020 11:02 AM EST
Filed Under: DC Comics
Source: Bleeding Cool
According to breaking news yesterday, DC Comics is down to just one publisher as Dan DiDio has left the company. Per Bleeding Cool (who has a pretty solid track record when it comes to comic book insider scoops), DiDio was apparently fired for "fostering a poor work environment" (this will indeed get you fired in corporate America). 

With Geoff Johns having departed the comic book side for film and TV and eventually leaving DC altogether to form his own production company, the former brain trust of DiDio, Johns and Jim Lee is now down to just Lee.

It's reported that DC is headed to a big overhaul in October that's rumored to be titled 5G or Generation Five that resets the DC Comics timeline by restoring all of its previous continuity. The catch is that these events will largely be regulated to the timeline they were originally published. That means, DC will no longer be attempting to modernize key comic book events to account for the fact that their characters don't age - so if an event occurred in the '50s,'70s,'90s, etc. that's where it will be firmly cemented.  ey events and certain characters will be firmly planted within their respective generation:
  • Generation Zero - A Free Comic Book Day special issue set for release in May that lays the groundwork for 5G
  • Generation One- the emergence of Wonder Woman, the first superhero during World War I
  • Generation Two - the first appearance of Superman
  • Generation Three - Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986) to Flashpoint (2011)
  • Generation Four - the current, real-world timeline
  • Generation Five - where Legion of Superheroes adventures will take place
DC has been planning to organize their history and revolutionize how comic stories are told for years (just Google 5G DC Comics for the time frame). This plan has understandably made comic book retailers extremely nervous as they're unsure how well Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman titles will sell without Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Diana Prince and Arthur Curry in their respective costumes for the foreseeable future.  This was apparently the crux of DiDio's dismissal. There's been a lot of turnover in the editorial department recently and it's believed to be in response to 5G. 

DiDio was also said to have clashed creatively with Scott Snyder at nearly every turn. More recently, Snyder is said to have wanted to keep his Death Metal plans as far away from 5G as possible. Snyder is also said to be the face of the faction at DC Comics who think 5G will harm the industry.

With DiDio now out, the biggest question that remains is whether DC Comics will still move forward with 5G?  
Dan DiDio rumored to have been fired from DC Comics gig

With DiDio out, Jim Lee is now the sole individual calling the shots at DC Comics. Lee and DiDio were co-publishers and had collectively set DC's agenda since February 2010.

Scott Snyder has weighed in on the matter, admitting that he and DiDio had some "nuclear fights" over the years but still considers him a friend.
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GhostDog
GhostDog - 2/22/2020, 11:19 AM
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 2/22/2020, 11:28 AM
@BlackBeltJones - Perfect gif.
HeraldNumber7
HeraldNumber7 - 2/22/2020, 11:48 AM
@BlackBeltJones -

goddamn he was a good Osborne. smh...
Jimster
Jimster - 2/22/2020, 7:48 PM
@HeraldNumber7 - Too true.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 2/22/2020, 11:20 AM
TheStranger
TheStranger - 2/22/2020, 11:24 AM
@BlackBeltJones - There is a reason divorce rates are high among cops and military. It ain't because they're too busy signing autographs.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 2/22/2020, 11:30 AM
@TheStranger - true but I don’t want to paint broad strokes. Some law enforcement officers lead happy home lives.

My uncle served 23 years in the Army and has been happily married 19 years and counting.
MaximusTheMad
MaximusTheMad - 2/22/2020, 11:23 AM
Isn't alternate history and aging hero stuff what Elseworlds stories are for?

Why would you want to deprive future generations of these classic characters?

We don't need a new Batman or Superman every decade or so.
MarkJulian
MarkJulian - 2/22/2020, 11:24 AM
@MaximusTheMad - That's the argument of the retailers.
TheStranger
TheStranger - 2/22/2020, 11:27 AM
@MaximusTheMad - Agreed. Especially if it stays within the confines of the character. Superman of the 50s should still be Superman of the 2000s. Which this looks to do.
MaximusTheMad
MaximusTheMad - 2/22/2020, 11:31 AM
@MarkJulian -

I'm not sure they're wrong.

You're effectively trapping characters in a certain time period.

Imagine if all future Bruce Wayne Batman stories are set in the 40's or 80's or 90's or whatever time period they decide he operated in.

Sub-optimal.
HeraldNumber7
HeraldNumber7 - 2/22/2020, 11:59 AM
@MaximusTheMad -

"Why would you want to deprive future generations of these classic characters?"

this has always been my stance when the idea of classic heroes aging out gets floated by other fans.

the DC brass seems to think they're readers are dumb and don't know how to accept rolling continuity or retcons & so they're trying to force them into reading stories they're way. clearly didn't learn from the New 52 debacle.
HeraldNumber7
HeraldNumber7 - 2/22/2020, 12:00 PM
@HeraldNumber7 -

their* way
TheStranger
TheStranger - 2/22/2020, 12:03 PM
@HeraldNumber7 - I'm not certain, but it could also be selfishness on their part too. Wanting readers to only read about "My Batman or Superman" and not the older takes on the characters.
HeraldNumber7
HeraldNumber7 - 2/22/2020, 12:15 PM
@TheStranger -

i hear you. this idea just seems like such a needlessly restrictive handicap for writers and it robs readers of the recontextualization that often occurs as characters develop through the ages. we get to have such awesome parallel media like, say, the MCU because of all of that rich layering of history across individual heroes.
TheStranger
TheStranger - 2/22/2020, 12:46 PM
@HeraldNumber7 - Yeah! I mean, think of some of the best Batman stories. They're taken totally out of the timeline of the current run. Like Year One, All Star Superman(For Superman), The Man Who Laughs, not to mention Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales stuff.

I don't know the whole story, but this seems like petty office politics to me. I mean, why can't we just have both? Seems like a compromise for writers, retailers, and fans alike.
shadowspider9
shadowspider9 - 2/22/2020, 3:46 PM
@MaximusTheMad - Why not?
Manga characters do it and it's part of what makes them so great. Manga characters are allowed to learn, to grow, to age, to marry and have kids and ride off into the sunset as the next generation comes of age and takes up the fight.

Part of what has killed comics is that they want to have stories where characters grow and change but also want to keep them in the same place in their life.

If characters aren't allowed to grow the original sidekicks would still be sidekicks and there would be no Young Justice. And things like Wally being Flash and surpassing Barry never would have happened.
shadowspider9
shadowspider9 - 2/22/2020, 3:48 PM
@HeraldNumber7 - Maybe because not every generation needs the same hero.
There is an entire generation who grew up with Wally as their Flash. With Kyle as their Green Lantern. With Tim as their Robin. With Conner as their Green Arrow.
Not to mention the generation that grew up with Jay Garrick as their Flash and Alen Scott as Green Lanturn.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 2/22/2020, 4:54 PM
@MaximusTheMad -
Yet it worked for green lantern
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 2/22/2020, 8:42 PM
@MaximusTheMad - "We don't need a new Batman or Superman every decade or so."

but...but...we have batman beyond,right? he's the new generation of the batman,right?
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