Man, I knew there was a reason Mark Waid was one of my favorite people. In an interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Waid spilled the beans on nearly every company he’s ever worked for.
“The biggest challenge [of 52]was actually, wisely, kept from us by [editor]Steve [Wacker]. EIC Dan Didio, who first championed the concept, hated what we were doing. H-A-T-E-D 52. Would storm up and down the halls telling everyone how much he hated it. And Steve, God bless him, kept us out of the loop on that particular drama. [Editor Michael] Siglain, having less seniority, was less able to do so, and there’s one issue of 52 near the end that was written almost totally by Dan and Keith Giffen because none of the writers could plot it to Dan’s satisfaction. Which was and is his prerogative as EIC, but man, there’s little more demoralizing than taking the ball down to the one-yard line and then being benched by the guy who kept referring to COUNTDOWN as ‘52 done right.'”
I think this is a fascinating look at the company, and actually puts a lot of what is going on into perspective. You’ll want to read the entire article, as there are enough quotes that can be pulled that would fill a month of Sundays worth of Quotes of the Week.
And if you are interested, we did our own little interview with Mr. Waid a while ago, where he hints at some of these things…
17 Comments
Ah, Dan…poor old Dan…your hubris will undo you…
But Danny Boy he has been able to weather the storm, you have to give him some credit
This is pretty amazing i’ve never really hated on dan for his work as EIC. But hearing things like this just open your eyes as on how much of a dick someone can be. also find it funny that he said COUNTDOWN was 52 done right yeah thats right Dan you must be the only one that didnt think Countdown was a piece of s*** waste of good paper. Glad to, this just means that maybe Paul Dini and all the other talented writers weren’t the x factor on Countdown.
No, it was pretty much Dini for a large part. The whole subplot with Harley Quinn just screams “Mary-Sue Fanfic”.
Wow, that’s crazy. Just read the whole interview, and I never realized how much backdoor drama there is in the comic book industry. That Fantastic Four story about Good ol Unca Bill was crazy as well, but not as ridiculous as Dan Didio hating on 52. Now I want to hear Didio’s side of this story, see just how much he really hated 52.
I preferred 52 over Countdown.
52 > Countdown. 52 inspired me to start regularly reading these comic book things again (and specifically, “Booster’s DEAD?!? So’s BEETLE??? WTF?”). Countdown made me wanna stop. I rest my case, your Honorship. Man, it stands to reason, in light of this story, that anything I like from DC ___MUST___ simply have slipped past Dan-D’s ever-vigilant pen o’ suck.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this about Didio. I’ve heard that he plots everything, and gets writers to script the stories, without listening to their input. No wonder DC keeps repeating the “year without Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman” idea.
Wow. Countdown as ’52 done right’. How does that guy still have a job? How has he not realized that quite literally everyone hates his guts?
Yeah don’t know whats Marks situation with DC hope that this doesn’t keep him from coming back to Flash and The Legion liked to see his take on Barry Allen and Iris
Dan Didio and Joe Quesada are the Geore W. of their respective companies. Sad part is that neither will probably be fired.
I know this falls on deaf ears, but if you want them gone don’t buy their product. Make sure that like-minded individuals also don’t buy their product. Maybe then the criticism will have more weight.
Yeah that won’t happen as much as these two are hated you can’t take away the fact that their respective companies are puttin out some pretty amazing books like Green Lantern/Crops, Superman Books, Bat books(in june should be good), Unknown Sodier, Booster Gold, Fables/Jack of Fables,Thor, Daredevil, Kick-ass, Thunderbolts, and a boatload ofothers these books shouldn’t take a hit because dumbasses that shouldnt be running companies are hated by everyone. We didn’t stop supporting our Troops just cause Bash was an ass.
DC gets my money for Legion. After canceling Blue Beetle, that is all I can justify spending on from their selection. My money is going to Atomic Robo, Empowered, and Invincible.
We need a concentrated effort to say “Screw you!” to the Big 2.
Ditto to what Jerardo says. The writers and artists don’t deserve to see sales dip over one guy.
I’m not about to stop reading my favorite characters just because some a-hole is in charge. Granted, book quality isn’t always at its greatest but I’ve come to deal with it by dropping books and adding new ones. I just feel uncomfortable knowing that some books’ and characters’, and some people’s artistic vision, are all being controlled by someone who repeatedly pushes stories the fans are overwhelmingly against. I don’t understand how, in this age of technology where it’s so easy to see what the fans are thinking (they have message boards on their own bloody website, for Christ’s sake!), we let that idiot make mistake after mistake.
I agree with duck face i’d really like to know the credentials you have to have to get hired as a EIC at a comic company. Some one like Mark Waid(Boom Studios) makes a lot of sense he’s been working in comics since i think the 70s you’d think he knows his s***. But Dan he worked for ABC(soap operas) its a big leap from that to comics. I know comics are only a medium to tell a story(if a story is good it’s good people will come to it whether its in movie, tv, comics, or music forme) but still id like to meet the guy who looked at Dans resame and said
“Hey this guy should tell our writers what to do and not do, scream at them when they don’t do exactly what he wants, and compare to and call a awful piece of S*** comic(Countdown) better than 52 in front of 52s writers.”
punch him in the mouth for not having already fired him and for hearing him in the first place. At this point thy can hair Peter Griffin(who is legal retarded) and do a better job. Seriously Dan you’re about as pathetic as Aquaman.
I’m guessing the issue in question was World War III.
Ok, maybe THAT explains why the end of 52 felt a little weird and rushed compared to the rest of the series. I LOVE 52, btw, but the end did feel out of sync.