Editor for a day

[Robin3]

You become an editor at DC for a day. Among your duties you get to

1) kill off 2 characters
2) ban 2 characters from being killed
3) retcon a character
4) cancel a book


Which ones would you pick and why? I'll go first:

1) kill off the new blue beetle, Osiris(black Adam Jr)
2) protect Black Lightning and the Red Devil
3) give Barbara Gordon her legs back
4) wonder woman

I liked the old blue beetle, and the osiris thing is really annoying, he's just a generic 'hothead' archetype. Transformers ran into the same problem with Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime.

I want BL and RD protected because I feel like they're vulnerable characters. It's really easy for a writer to try to write them off as cannon fodder, and I don't want that, especially for Black Lightning.

I know barbara gordon won't get her legs back as long as the current writer has her, but those are just my feelings about what I'd like to see with her.

WW doesn't seem to have much of a purpose. Technically, Power Girl should be stronger than her, so I don't even see her as the heavy hitter she's supposed to be.

[carabas]

1) kill off 2 characters

Considering Arnold Wesker's already dead, I see no need to kill anyone off. So I'll take two extra retcons.
2) ban 2 characters from being killed
-Sasha Bordeaux
-Manhunter (Kate)
3) retcon a character
-Catwoman: was not brainwashed by Zatanna, and did not have a breakdown or a baby.
-Wonder Woman: strike vol. 3 from continuity entirely.
-Batgirl (Cassandra Cain): is not, nor has ever been evil. and certainly not because she finds out she has a sister, or daddy issues.
-Superman/Batman (and all of Jeph Loeb's writing, really): is to be considered an Elseworld. The story of the end of LEx's Presidency and the origin of Supergirl to be told by proper writers at some point in the future.
4) cancel a book
Superman/Batman
Also, Wonder woman volume 3, with Wonder Woman volume 2 being uncanceled and picking up from the end of the current Manhunter arc as soon as Greg Rucka, Gail simone or Marc Andreyko can commit to at least 36 issues.

[Schornforce]

I can't think of anyone I'd like to kill off, so I'll opt to add 2 characters to retcon.

Retcon 1

Impulse. I think I'd have Bart's last act as Impulse was to create a final Impulse clone which contains all his former fun and spontaniety-- he'd also have the sole task of guarding Manchester and specifically Carol and Preston. Unfortunately, since Bart put so much of himself into the final clone, it changed his personality, memories, and powers... hence Kid Flash and then regular Bart Flash.

Retcon 2

Justice League of Anarky. Bringing fun and games back to comics. I'd have the craziest characters of the DCU under the direction of Anarky to set a collision course with wackiness.

Retcon 3

I agree with the retcons carabas and Robin3 mentioned, but to avoid repeats, I'd choose--

Prometheus. I'd make him an undisputed bad-ass and give him some significant feats. He should be a terror, but usually is beaten pretty easily.

Ban from kill 1

The new Impulse I'd create.

Ban from kill 2

G'Nort

cancel 1

I try not to read books I'm not interested in. I guess I'd agree with previous choices and say "Wonder Woman." BUT then I'd immediately restart the comic with someone who can put out quality issues on a REGULAR MONTHLY schedule.

[Lex]

This isn't playing by the rules, but if I was an editor, I'd ban Judd Winick from using any character I like. From now on he can only use Grace, Thunder, Jason Todd, Dr. Light (the rapist) and Doomsday. I hate those characters, so Judd can have free reign with them.

And to be fair, I'll come back later and play the game correctly. :)

[titanfan]

1) kill off 2 characters
- The Mist (I'd bring her back and kill her off again)
- The Mist (After killing her off, I'd resurrect her and kill her off again)

2) ban 2 characters from being killed
- No character is untouchable for me, but I would FORBID anymore origin changes to Donna Troy as well as forbid anymore Legion reboots.


3) retcon a character
- The man that tried to take over the world wasn't Maxwell Lord
- Give Jean Loring a much more plausible explanation for turning evil.

4) cancel a book
- Wonder Woman/All Star Batman & Robin -- If you can't keep on schedule, you shouldn't keep your jobs. (Books to be relaunched later pending total creative overhaul)

[carabas]

Books to be relaunched later pending total creative overhaul
Hmm... not really an option in the case of ASB&RTBW.
Without Miller and Lee, there is no book. Granted, with them most of the time there isn't one either, but still...

As for Wonder Woman, it deserves to be canceled, but not for that reason. DC knew that this book was going to be late when they hired the guy. If anyon needs firing over this, it's editor Matt Idelson.
Now Jim Lee holding up the relaunch of Wildstorm's two flagship books for months on end, that is unforgivable. But it's his company, he's unlikelyto fire himself.

[Adem]

1) Red Hood
2) Detective Chimp and Krypto
3) The Marvel family will now be whatever Jeff Smith’s version is going to be.
4) Trials of Shazam! Also make a rule that it never be collected in any form.

[The Scribe]

1) kill off the new blue beetle, Osiris(black Adam Jr)


:mad:

1) kill off 2 characters
Skeets
Jason Todd

2) ban 2 characters from being killed
Hal Jordan
Aquaman

3) retcon a character
I'd remove everything that happened in Identity Crisis from continuity.
Alexander Luthor II
Earth-2 Superman
BatWoman wouldn't be gay.

4) cancel a book
All the All-Star books.

[shaxper]

You become an editor at DC for a day. Among your duties you get to

1) kill off 2 characters
2) ban 2 characters from being killed
3) retcon a character
4) cancel a book



1) Crispus Allen, Princess Diana
2) Jason Todd, Kyle Raner
3) Donna Troy
4) Wonder Woman


I'd kill Crispus Allen (yes, I know he's already dead. But I'd allow him to go to his final rest) because I just don't think he cuts it as a host for the Spectre. He doesn't have the presence and haunted quality that Jim Corrigan does. In so many ways, the Spectre was Jim's alter-ego, not just an odd-couple pairing that gave him an opportunity to preach and grapple with morality on a regular basis. The current dynamic just feels so formulaic to me.

More importantly, I'd kill Princess Diana. I LOVE Princess Diana when she's done right, but no one at DC seems to have any idea who she is anymore (Rucka being the major exception, but he isn't working on her anymore). Better to let her die than to let her be handled by writers that have no business working on her.

I don't want Jason Todd to die. We spent all this time and energy bringing the guy back (right or not), that it would be a total cop-out to just let him die now. It seems like he's being pushed further and further from the forefront, and I'm afraid that he's going to get offed soon because no one knows what to do with him. He deserves better than that. His resurrection was a mistake, but he still has potential.

I don't really think anyone's going to kill Kyle Raner, but he's not entirely popular or irreplacable within the DCU either, so it could forseeably happen. I happen to like him a lot, and I hope he'll be getting his own ongoing soon.

Donna Troy needs a MASSIVE retcon. DC screwed with her origin when they tried to make her history fit neatly with that of the post-crisis Wonder Woman. That's no longer necessary. Donna's original origin works neatly with that of the post-IC Wonder Woman (who could have been an older adoptive sister to Donna all those years back). So get rid of all the confusing bullsh*t that was added over the years and return Donna to her roots. While we're at it, let's bring back Terry and keep them married too. Maybe leave kids out of it this time. Donna used to be a favorite among second string DCU heroes. Now no one even knows who she is anymore. She needs simplicity and familiarity again.

Wonder Woman needs to end. It's been a terrible mistake from the first issue, and the next writer (Jodi Picoult, who has never read a comic in her life) isn't going to make things any better. Kill Diana (as stated above), let a retconned Donna Troy become her own Wonder Woman (that way she doesn't have to be "Troia" in order to avoid being called "Wonder Girl" at her age), and then put her on a team (Titans, Outsiders, JLA, etc). Donna always worked best on a team.


So yes, my plan focuses almost entirely upon Wonder Woman and Donna Troy but, from my perspective, they're the two DCU properties that are in the most dire need of help right now.

[captain_unimpressive]

You become an editor at DC for a day. Among your duties you get to

1) kill off 2 characters
2) ban 2 characters from being killed
3) retcon a character
4) cancel a book

1) Nightwing and... here's an idea.
Trials of Shazam ends with Freddy Freeman meeting Judd Winick, like in Animal Man, but instead of learning the true nature of the universe, he just SHAZAMS him, resulting in A) the retcon of the entire mini and B) Winick never writing another in-continuity DC book 'cause he's dead in that universe.
2) Vic Sage and, retroactively, Ted Kord. And I wouldn't even try to make it make sense. He just shows up one day, regenerated Dr. Who style.
And if an interviewer asks me to explain it, I'll just start talking about Zeta Beams and trail off.
3) Technically, I've done two retcons already, so I might as well skip this.
4) All Star B&R. That way, both the readers and Frank Miller can be put out of their misery.

[dupersuper]

You become an editor at DC for a day. Among your duties you get to

1) kill off 2 characters
2) ban 2 characters from being killed
3) retcon a character
4) cancel a book



1) Jason Todd, Guy Gardner
2) Wonder Twins
3) With Beetle being brought back by zeta beams, what else is there? ;) Maybe just make sure the Superboy thing they're trying to jimmy into Supes history stays at Smallville "adventures in secret as my powers develop" levels, not "Welcome to Smallville, Home of..." sillyness
4) the lowest selling 1 that I don't really, really like. I'm not a "cancel a book 'cause I don't like it" type; I'm a "don't read books I don't like" guy. As an editor, I'd be more a "put writers I like on all the books so I enjoy them all" type.

[Ontir]

1) kill off 2 characters
Dreamboy: I'm not wild about him.
Artemis: I could easily do without her.

2) ban 2 characters from being killed
Vic Sage: Love the character.
Chris Kent: Eager for a new "Kid Superman."

3) retcon a character
Wonder Woman: She saved Steve Trevor during WW II, eventually married him. Saved Donna, took her to Paradise Island, then gave birth to Lyta Trevor. Steve died a few years ago. Diana is a bit older, but not greatly so. Donna gave up being Wonder Girl, when Lyta was old enough to take over, and now goes under the name Fury.

4) cancel a book
Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes: I'd clear the way for a major ret-re-boot-con.