Devin Grayson Interview...

[Oracle_0128]

After reading this interview, I really feel like I owe Devin a huge apology. :(

Devin Interview (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=6176)

[DLH1970]

I wouldn't be so quick with that apology. It's unfortunate that she may have had to change her story because of editorial reasons, but lets face facts. She has been dragging this story on for three years. You can blame "War Games", "Year One" and now "Infinte Crisis" all you want, but it's obvious that Grayson has had pacing problems from the beginning. This could have been done and over with two years ago. I'm more the ready for her to move on.

[kipster]

Devin Grayson comes across as one of the most tactless, clueless and classless creaters I've ever read about, in pretty much every interview she does. This was no exception.

She says she might have had a slight pacing problem? Yeah, and Louisiana might have had a little summer rain named Katrina go through.

She has ruined the Nightwing book, just the same as she did with The Titans a few years ago. She makes comments that DC didn't give her info in time for her to change the direction of her story, yet as far as I've read, she's the only creator who has had that problem. It's always somebody else's fault, right Ms. Grayson?

This is not the 1st interview I've read where she made snarky comments about DC, and being out of the loop. Well, just leave DC, leave comics, and maybe you'd be a lot happier. I know I would.

[Ian Boothby]

I wouldn't be so quick with that apology. It's unfortunate that she may have had to change her story because of editorial reasons, but lets face facts. She has been dragging this story on for three years. You can blame "War Games", "Year One" and now "Infinte Crisis" all you want, but it's obvious that Grayson has had pacing problems from the beginning. This could have been done and over with two years ago. I'm more the ready for her to move on.


I don't know, if I had a storyline going and was told at the last second that the ending would have to be the opposite of what I'd planned and that kind of thing happened over and over? Like building a house of cards in a car that keeps changin direction randomly.

[Nick Kal]

She says she might have had a slight pacing problem? Yeah, and Louisiana might have had a little summer rain named Katrina go through.


That was tasteless.

As for Grayson, I don't think her Nightwing is that bad...

[Night Swordsman]

Frankly i ENJOY Devin's work,and will be sad when she leaves the book.

I also hope she will be getting a new series soon,DC or Marvel.

[NickThompson]

I don't know, if I had a storyline going and was told at the last second that the ending would have to be the opposite of what I'd planned and that kind of thing happened over and over? Like building a house of cards in a car that keeps changin direction randomly.
I agree. How would IDentity Crisis have ended up if after plotting it all out Meltzer was told he had to cut an issue, as well as changing who did it.

[Gail Simone]

I think Devin's great. I always enjoy her stuff tremendously.

I think she was sabotaged (unintentionally) on Nightwing, and it's a dang shame. But I still enjoyed it a lot. I just think she wanted to compress that story a great deal more. But I'm not speaking for her...that's just my impression.

Gail

[Jeff Brady]

I am THOROUGHLY enjoying Ms. Grayson's run on Nightwing, as I do most of her work. She gets the Bat-characters, with out a doubt.

[Forsaken_One]

Meh, I dropped Nightwing back around issue 93. After Devin Grayson killed off all the best supporting characters of the Dixon run, introduced the horrid character that was Tarantula, and completely tore down the world I'd come to enjoy I didn't have any patience for her so called rebuilding. 93 was just about the last straw out of many. And frankly I don't see how all that could be caused by DC editorial, I strongly suspect she had a hand in it.

[Jeff Brady]

Editors can dictate when a character dies, or is introduced, the length of a storyline, basically EVERYTHING in the book. In some cases, it's the writer's job to try to make it an interesting story.

[Ian Boothby]

I agree. How would IDentity Crisis have ended up if after plotting it all out Meltzer was told he had to cut an issue, as well as changing who did it.

I'd have been happy with "it was all a dream".

[Cam63]

I haven't read Nightwing for a while.

It's just not my cuppa.

[Lester C.]

I’ve said this before but initially I hated her run with a passion. I grew up reading Dixon's Nightwing and how dare she destroy my beloved universe and change the iconic Nightwing. A while back I reread all of her issues as Nightwing and chose to view her first story arc as an issue zero relaunch. Once I did that I found a very compelling read that was well drawn. Most of the complaints I’ve read haven't been about her writing or about the artist working the title but rather at the fact that the Chuck Dixon created universe no longer exists.

One thing that has truly bothered me is how vicious fans have been towards Devin. I’m not talking about the person that has attacked her writing or what she has done with any of the characters because as far as I’m concerned if you paid your money you have right to complain about what you bought. I’m talking about the person, who for years now, have savagely attacked her personal life. People forget this but Devin was a lot more involved on the internet than she is now and while I can’t speak for her I’m guessing the name calling had something to do with self imposed exile. People also forget that Chuck’s run various DC books ended with a whimper and the fact that Devin Nightwing sales have been a consistently strong performer for DC.

[DLH1970]

I think Devin's great. I always enjoy her stuff tremendously.

I think she was sabotaged (unintentionally) on Nightwing, and it's a dang shame. But I still enjoyed it a lot. I just think she wanted to compress that story a great deal more. But I'm not speaking for her...that's just my impression.

Gail

I agree that it sucks if Winick or Johns writes something that is in complete contrast to her story. After all she is writing the core title. She deserves some consideration.

I still maintain that she had more then enough time to tell her story. One of the biggest complaints about her Nightwing besides "out of character" writing is that we have gotten issue after issue where nothing happens. This is all on her. You just can't complain later on that you couldn't finish the story the way you wanted.

[Gail Simone]

I think you misunderstood. I'm not saying it was Geoff or Judd.

Gail

[Just_A_Rat]

I love Nightwing and have been on board since the beginning. I think the "crutches" thing went on a little longer than it should have. However, I am quite enjoying the "Renegade" arc. Seeing Dick pass on his knowledge has been very interesting, especially because the hard ass "because I said so" approach to it he tries to take most of the time reminds me of Batman, and it is opposed to the way he passes on his knowledge to Tim when they are together.

I think it is intersting that to Dick, the sterile way that he was taught works only for someone who he doesn't care for, and who is on the "wrong side" while a true "mentor" relationship works for those who he really wants to succeed.

I do think it was a mistake on Devin Grayson's part to kill off so much of the supporting cast. A hero is made by his villains, and Nightwing had a good arch-nemesis in Blockbuster. That is one of the things I miss since then. A developped Rogue's Gallery for Dick. Also, when you look at the most succesful of DC's heroes over the long run (Batman and Superman particularly) they have a long-established supporting cast. I think part of killing off so much that came from Chuck Dixon's run on Nightwing has robbed Dick of that supporting cast who was so well developped.

The idea of looking at it as starting over is interesting, but I would just as soon not have someone kill off Alfred, Leslie, Jim Gordon and Lucius Fox and look at it as starting over. I accept that characters will come and go over time, but under a hundred issues and that much of a cleansing is a little quick for my tastes.

All that said, I certainly sympathize with Devin Grayson on her stories being derailed by larger needs at DC. I also have a great deal of respect for her saying that if you can tell they were, that represents a failure on her part. The truth is that under Devin's stewardhip, Nightwing is no longer either the first or last book on my pile when I bring the comics home from the shop (I like to put the books from a given weeks' selection that I am most looking forward to one on top and one on the bottom of the pile - hopefully assuring a pleasant start and end to the comic reading experience) but it is still always in the pile.

[Corrina]

Devin Grayson comes across as one of the most tactless, clueless and classless creaters I've ever read about, in pretty much every interview she does. This was no exception.


Really?

Because I've found all her interviews interesting and informative and, generally, quite tactful. She actually answered the questions about why there's a discrepency in Nightwing's love life with Outsiders (they didn't ask) and revealed something of DC's editorial process without slamming said editorial process.

[Dr Ray Palmer]

I don't know, if I had a storyline going and was told at the last second that the ending would have to be the opposite of what I'd planned and that kind of thing happened over and over? Like building a house of cards in a car that keeps changin direction randomly.

This is a great analogy, and seems to capture what's happened to her on this title pretty accurately.

My first issues of Grayson's Nightwing were in the 90s (I mean issues numbered in the 90s, not in the 1990s) and I was unimpressed with most of them, although I felt it got better as it got closer to #100. I enjoyed them enough to keep reading, though, even though (or perhaps because) I'm not particularly attached to the character to begin with. I've enjoyed her issues since the Year One interruption quite a bit, particularly the last 3 or 4, although I'll agree with her that there have been pacing problems. While I'm enjoying the current arc, I think it could've been a lot shorter -- even though I've enjoyed the individual issues, she seems to have been treading water without really moving for a while. (I'm glad she recognizes and admits this, too).

I really don't think she's the godawful horrible monster that so many readers seem to enjoy ranting about. At this point -- whether for legitimate reasons or not -- a lot of readers have decided on principle that they're not going to like what she does in Nightwing no matter what, so she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. It seems that a lot of readers now are going into each issue just looking for things to hate and rant about; if you go into a book knowing you're going to hate it, why bother? As unfair as it may be to her, it's probably for the best that she's leaving the title, because she could turn in the best Nightwing stories ever written and a lot of people would slam them mercilessly all over the Internet at every chance they get anyway.

I haven't read much of her other stuff, but I absolutely loved her JLA/Titans mini a few years ago. I hope her next project will be something that she enjoys and that readers will appreciate.

[Azrael52]

1. I can't think of one of my friends who likes Devin. But like a lot of other issues when it comes to comics, I'm different. I like Nightwing and her approach b/c it's like saying she's not scared to change things up. I've always liked the character and Grayson is ok in my book.

2. That said, the story has dragged out a little. And I would definitely welcome a new writer's fresh take on the character. To me, he has more potential than any other second stringer if you can call him that. So hope he joins the league and has a large part to play in IC.

3. Gail, how closely do you work with Devin when either of you use Babs/Dick in each other's stories?

[muimi]

I said this over in the Batman forums but I'll say it again. I love Nightwing and that's why I dropped the title. So I'd have to say: I'm not sorry to see another creative team take over the title but I wish Devin well elsewhere. She is a talented writer. I won't take away from Devin's other writings involving Nightwing -- I think that her depictions of all the Batfamily are extremely well thought out and characterized. Her run on Gotham Knights was excellent and I liked The Titans.

But that still doesn't make up for the fact that with this latest run of Nightwing, I don't recognize Dick. I'm not overly fond of the whole Crutches storyline, I'm not sure where it's going. I think without Infinite Crisis happening, it could have been a very cool arc but as it is right now, with at least three versions of Nightwing running around (JLA, IC, NW), two of whom are in Bludhaven (JLA, IC), one of which is at least on speaking terms with Bruce (JLA) and then... Nightwing's Nightwing... I'm very confused.

[Alex Dragon]

I don't believe most fans truly understand or can wrap their head around the fact that it's hard to produce good stuff when you constantly have to alter your work to accomadate crossovers you had no idea were coming and editorial ideas and mandates that are constantly thrown at you. Some people tend to be able to do it better than others but it's still a pain and really can affect a book. I think in the upcoming months there'll be even more of this as DC's editorial gets unnecessarily bigger and has a stronger say in storylines. I'm guessing more and more writers will tire of this and head to Marvel.

One of the reasons I dropped the NIGHTWING comic years ago (before Grayson) and never went back was because of the constant crossovers I had to put up with. The storyline just abruptly stoped and went into a strange direction for the sake of the crossover for a few issues and I got tired of it and dropped the title. In fact DC chased me off most of the books from them I was buying because of the crossovers that went on for months and then more of them coming back to back.

[DLH1970]

I think you misunderstood. I'm not saying it was Geoff or Judd.

Gail

I didn't mean to imply that you did. It's just my opinion that they have written some things about Nightwing that are in direct contrast to Grayson's version.

[Cam63]

3. Gail, how closely do you work with Devin when either of you use Babs/Dick in each other's stories?

Gail calls her on the Dick Phone.

[Lester C.]

Gail calls her on the Dick Phone.

I’m not even going to describe the image in my head as it’s too dirty.

[Cam63]

What ? :confused:

[Azrael52]

Freakin' Lester! I swear, always taking our words and phrases and Dick references out of context! Perv!

[Lunar Daydreamer]

I remember reading an interview a while back where Devin came across as someone that was just full of her own self importance.

I dont know where the interview was because it was a few years back, so obviously i'm paraphrasing, but she intimated she didn't like/read comics other than the batman books "Because she had to".

Considering some of the absolute bilge shes put into the medium herself, it was the final straw for me.

As i've said before I did enjoy her early stuff, Batman /Arsenal was tops and the Arsenal miniseries is a bit of a classic. I thought her first 5 issues of Nightwing were great and pretty much clkosed off the Dixon run wonderfully & seamlessly. Then came the guff like User, Titans, the Nightwing that followed ... and therin the aforementioned interview.

I read the interview recently about working in the medium, from Joe Casey's CBR column I think, and thought it was well written and reasoned and certainly food for thought and she certainly came across better therin.

I can't say if her Nightwing has gotten better, but I just don't think she's a good writer and whilst I am planning to pick up pretty much everything DCU after the one year gap, if her name is on a book it will be the exception.

I know she's your mate Gail, so my apologies if any of the above offends.

[Gail Simone]

Devin Grayson was always, always an absolute dream to work with any time Bop and Nightwing had the slightest crossover. When a couple of the most popular guys are really incredibly rude and thoughtless with using characters from other books, Devin was absolutely the opposite. We always tried to coordinate things, even when we separately came up with a similar plotline for each book during the same months, as happened on one occasion.

And she is so not the person described in some posts. She's incredibly serious about the characters...no one thinks their characters through like Devin. I love her voice in comics, she's been an inspiration to me since her first stories, and I hope she gets on some more good books soon.

And you should read Matador. I loved that damn book.

Gail

[kingdom2000]

I never had a problem with the Devin issues that I flipped through here and there. At least she was attempting something. I dropped Nightwing during Dixon's run because it was so damn repetitive. He kept diving into the Blockbuster well to many times as did the writers that followed. A good villian is used judiciously, not so frequently that a newcomer would wonder who the main character is. Teen Titans walking that line with like the 15th Brother Blood appearance in a series that has just reached issue 29, which is why it just got ejected from my pull list. I feel sorry for Gotham Knights collectors cause they should just rename that title Hushman or something.

And its really not an excuse to blame all the crossovers. The Bat titles have had a ton of them by themselves along with all the event books and DC stuff. Since Grayson took over there has been what, 10 crossovers? So from 90-115 or whatever you are looking at 25 issues - 6 for that origin story being told for the 1000th time. So really looking at 19 issues. Well minus Infinite Crisis, Identity Crisis, War Games, Crossovers with other titles such as Robin or Batgirl and who knows what else, she has probably only has 12 issues to tell her story. Which would be enough if not for all the interruptions.

It must make planning any arc a total pain in the ass. On top of that, editorial decides to start an event that may or may not lead to cancellation but don't pull the stops out because we are planning this two years in advance and too many broad changes could effect our big event so just maintain the status quo unless we give instructions otherwise cause we got to do the occasional setup for our event. The Infinite Crisis stuff explains why alot of titles have been spinning their wheels for the last few years including Nightwing.

Those reasons and another is why I finally got fed up with all the Bat titles. The constant xovers that went nowhere. I am actually a fan of crossovers. I usually like them a lot but the Bat titles are notorous for big events that really when the dust settles really has little effect for our main hero. Supporting characters usually get more of a work out then Bats in the crossovers. Even worse a excruting long drawn out reveal that then goes nowhere (Hush for example).

The vile thrown at Devin though has been a suprising and by most standards over the top. For comic fandom it is probably somewhat restrained. It seems every few years the fans at large pic out a creator to pick on for a while before moving on to a new one. Any day now Gail will get her turn. :P

[steeler80]

Really?

Because I've found all her interviews interesting and informative and, generally, quite tactful. She actually answered the questions about why there's a discrepency in Nightwing's love life with Outsiders (they didn't ask) and revealed something of DC's editorial process without slamming said editorial process.

I have to agree. I'll admit that I've not read a lot of Grayson's work (although I have enjoyed the odd Gotham Knights) but I always find her interviews to be extremely good. She trys to honestly answer questions without making statements that might hurt her career. No easy task.

[matterconsumer]

Not that I'm a Joe Q fanboy but the interview reinforced his point that he's made regarding DC's editorial dictates.

Editorial should stand up and take credit where credit is due. Credit for the good and the bad.

It was a good interview which went beyond fluff...

[Lester C.]

Let me play devils advocate here on behalf of the editors as no one is defending them. If you sign up to write a book that’s part of a family of books then you should have known going in that the book you are writing would be subject to crossovers and or the need to accommodate a large interlocking universe that is held together by continuity that has to mesh together or else everything falls apart.

I feel horrible that Devin was deprived of the story she wanted to tell and even worse that she’s going to get heat from the fans about decisions she did not make. Unfortunately Devin’s situation about editorial mandates effecting her reputation as a writer isn’t new. Some recent examples would be Bill Willingham taking the blame for Spoilers death and Leslie Tompkins becoming a murder, Brian Bendis dismantling the Avengers, Ron Marz killing Hal Jordon etc.

[matterconsumer]

I agree that editorial mandates aren't new.

What should be new is a willingness for editorial to speak up especially when writers are blasted for decisions they didn't make and take the heat off the writers.

Instead what can happen is that folk may stop purchasing a writer's work when it wasn't even the writer's choice...

[stealthwise]

I'm more afraid of what the ending of some of those arcs WOULD have been if DC Editorial hadn't tied her hands.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan.