Alright, so as we all know by now, Rob Liefeld is taking over the plotting duties on The Savage Hawkman starting with issue #9. After sleeping on it for a few days, I am still not happy about it.
First off, I have to ask the question: Why is DC putting so many eggs in one basket? If the "New 52" was an opportunty to get new voices and faces on their comic properties, why is one guy taking over three books in one month? A full 5.5% of the DC "New 52" comics will be plotted by Rob Liefeld, an artist who is not known for being a crossover guy. I solicited opinions from my friends on Twitter and got everything from "DC execs are grown up X-Force/Youngblood fanboys" to "Rob blackmailed Dan DiDio." Frankly, I'd buy any of those explanations at this point because I cannot figure it out personally.
This to me raises the question of desperation. That is, is DC getting desperate with some of these titles? Are Savage Hawkman and company books which are essentially dead in the water and they'll throw anything out there to keep them going for a few more issues? DC made no bones about the fact that the lower selling titles would bite the dust at issue #8; was putting Liefeld on these books an effort to keep that number at 6 titles rather than 9? After issue #12 will we get three new "Wave 3" titles replacing Savage Hawkman, Grifter, and Deathstroke? Wouldn't surprise me in the least.
The most dispiriting thing about all of this for me is that it seems that The Savage Hawkman is destined to be yet another failed Hawkman solo series, another aberration in the long and winding history of the character. The "New 52" represented a great chance to reinvent and streamline Hawkman and tell new and exciting stories with him. But right now all I can think is that this will all be soon forgotten.
Of course, there is always an upside when your monthly comics are cancelled: Less new comics means more time to read old comics. And I have tons of old comics to read.
So what are you thoughts on this turn of events?
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2 comments:
I suspect Rob Liefeld will be DC's new Christopher Priest-- a guy they put on low-selling titles he cannot save who becomes the scapegoat for cancellation. "It was the Priest curse, not editorial hubris or poor marketing!" Also, maybe he's drinking buddies with Didio and this is Dan's "get out of jail free" card. "You know I love you Rob, but we gave you four titles, and they all bombed. It's not me Rob-- it's the bean counters. And Jim Lee. What did you do to that guy?"
"I suspect Rob Liefeld will be DC's new Christopher Priest..."
I don't think that sentence has ever been said on the Internet before. Yeesh!
Again, as good a theory as any other! Hopefully I will be wrong and Liefeld will rock my socks off with what he has in store for Hawkman. Hopefully!
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