DC EDITORS DEBRIEFING 2: EDDIE BERGANZA

[MattBrady]

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/editors/Berganza/interview.html"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/editors/Berganza/TeenTitansCv34-.jpg" border="0" width="175" height="265" align="right" /></a>Last week we began the first in an eight-part weekly series with the DC Universe Editors and Senior Editors about <b>One Year Later</b> and other DC Universe titles in 2006 and beyond. This week we continue with a conversation with Group Editor Eddie Berganza.

Perhaps best known to readers as editor of the <b>Superman</b> titles over the last several years, with 'OYL' comes a change to Beganza's roster. One of DC's most prolific editors will be moving on from the Superman family, and his current line-up includes <b>Teen Titans</b>, <b>Supergirl</b>, <b>Ion</b>, <b>Superman/Batman</b>, and the upcoming <b>Justice League of America</b>...

Oh yeah, he also edits a little something called <b>Infinite Crisis</b>.

Berganza spoke to us about parting ways with Superman, and while he keeps a lot of details close to the vest in regards to his OYL titles, he oes share some thoughts with readers on each...

Click <a href="http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/editors/Berganza/interview.html">here</a> for the full interview..


<b><i>Previous DC EDITORS DEBRIEFING Features</i></b>:

<p><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/editors/tomasi.html"><b>Peter Tomasi</a></b>

[BlueThunderArmy]

I'm very intrigued about Ion. Kyle has long been one of my favorite characters.

[Aquajacket]

Holy smoke! What are those Chaykin pages from?

[Kevin T. Brown]

EB: Read the book. You don't want spoilers.
Yes we do. So tell us.

:D

[samnoir]

Hopefully there is a good reason for "of America" to be in the Justice League of America title. As the world continues to get smaller and smaller, I always thought limiting the heroes to America was short sighted and was really happy when they relaunched the book as Justice League before becoming Justice League International. Given the popularity of the TV show, I would think "Unlimited" would be a good title for the new book if not simply "Justice League".

I do like Robin's new costume. I thought simplifying the color scheme was a good move when they revamped Tim Drakes costume to red and black for the animated series.

I trust Geoff Johns to somehow reconcile the recent Byrne Doom Patrol series with what has gone before, particularly if it means bringing Grant Morrison's run back into continuity. There is potential for great drama there given Beast Boy's past and the ties to the DP.

The scene I've been dying to see for quite some time is Gar Logan's reaction to the fact that The Chief was responsible for the "accidents" that created the Doom Patrol in the first place, the implication being that he might have been responsible for Gar becoming Beast Boy, as well as the fact that The Chief didn't save Rita Farr.

___________________________________

WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE BUSINESS OF COMICS for sale on EBAY! NEIL GAIMAN. KURT BUSIEK. DAVE GIBBONS. (http://stores.ebay.com/HOUSE-OF-FUN)

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[Sean Walsh]

In regards to realism in the Superbooks....

I always found it ironic that people found Ed McGuinness acceptable, but they never really took to Duncan Rouleau or Pascual Ferry version of the character.

Because we could tell what Ed was drawing...?

[Xenu Hater]

So what do we think of the all-red-bodied Robin? I think it's kinda cool. But it's cool like the Spider-Man black costume is cool, in the sense that it's a cool riff on a classic costume, until you get tired of it and they go back to how it was.

Still, looks cool.

I said "cool" way too much in this post.

[samnoir]

Originally posted by Aquajacket
Holy smoke! What are those Chaykin pages from?

Whatever that project is, I'm definately going to pick that up! The retro Superman does look really cool rendered by Chaykin. If it's a period piece, I think it is perfect for Chaykin to do a Superman (Elseworld's?) book set in the thirties.

Has Chaykin really tackled Superman before? Other than the odd pinup, I can't remember anything like this.

_______________________________


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[samnoir]

Originally posted by Sean Walsh
In regards to realism in the Superbooks....



Because we could tell what Ed was drawing...?

I don't think Franke Quitely's style is really that close to "reality", and All Star my favourite Superman book right now.

However, I would love a Superman book drawn by Bryan Hitch (and written by Mark Millar).

_________________________________

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[Kevin T. Brown]

Originally posted by Aquajacket
Holy smoke! What are those Chaykin pages from? According to what the link says, Superman #226..... But Chaykin is not among the artists listed in the solits.

[Superfrick]

Oh! New Supergirl Images! Well, it's time for me to fill my prude quota:

"Put on a shirt!"

Okay, carry on :)

[Aquajacket]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by samnoir
[B]

Has Chaykin really tackled Superman before? Other than the odd pinup, I can't remember anything like this.

QUOTE]

He did Son of Superman and Distant Fires (both of which were Elseworlds, I believe.

I'm buying WHATEVER this is.

[Aquajacket]

Originally posted by Kevin T. Brown
According to what the link says, Superman #226..... But Chaykin is not among the artists listed in the solits.

Hmmm... I hope it's not just a three- or four-page flashback.

[Aaron]

I'm not a Berganza fan. His style of "editing" is questionable; the Superman books have been in a creative slump, jumping from one lamebrained idea to another for years. Heck, Batman's line to Superman about "not inspiring anyone since he was dead" was (intentionally or not) a direct shot at Berganza. And he "edited" the very book it appeared in.

If by "editor" his job is to basically sit back, hire half-ass creators with questionable skills to strip DC's premiere character of any charm, not proofread his books, and basically do nothing... well then, yeah, he's a heck of an editor.

Infinite Crisis is not in any way a benchmark for Berganza; it just happens to be created by people who don't really require a heck of a lot of editorial interference, so they make his job easy. It's no secret that the Infinite Crisis EVENT (not the main book itself) is being managed by Didio, Johns, Rucka and Waid.

So, it's with not very much excitement that I look forward to Eddie's new "projects." In my opinion, the man overstayed his welcome in the editorial offices years ago and should be moved into something else while someone with some talent fills the void.

Just my $.02.

Aaron

[samnoir]

Originally posted by Xenu Hater
So what do we think of the all-red-bodied Robin? I think it's kinda cool. But it's cool like the Spider-Man black costume is cool, in the sense that it's a cool riff on a classic costume, until you get tired of it and they go back to how it was.

Still, looks cool.

I said "cool" way too much in this post.

http://img.epinions.com/images/opti/d2/9d/kifmToysAllHasbro_The_New_Batman_Adventu res__Robin_9__Action_Figure1-resized200.jpg

It is cool how some of the more popular elements of the animated series makes it's way into the comic.

Harley Quinn, the new Mister Freeze look and origin, the Supergirl belly t-shirt, and now the New Batman Adventures look for Robin.

I think it really differentiates Tim from Jason and Dick to have his own look.

I'm hoping Cyborg will adopt a look closer to his animated series counterpart... we've already had a glimpse of that in the Titans Tomorrow storyline.

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[Pikachu007]

Matt. can you at least tell me you have a Batwoman related article waiting in the wings?!

[samnoir]

Originally posted by Aquajacket
[QUOTE]Originally posted by samnoir
[B]

Has Chaykin really tackled Superman before? Other than the odd pinup, I can't remember anything like this.

QUOTE]

He did Son of Superman and Distant Fires (both of which were Elseworlds, I believe.

I'm buying WHATEVER this is.

He didn't draw those did he?

_____________________________________

WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE BUSINESS OF COMICS for sale on EBAY! NEIL GAIMAN. KURT BUSIEK. DAVE GIBBONS. (http://stores.ebay.com/HOUSE-OF-FUN)

INDIANA JONES 12 INCH GI JOE ACTION FIGURE for SALE ON EBAY! DISNEY WORLD EXCLUSIVE! (http://stores.ebay.com/HOUSE-OF-FUN)

[Kevenn]

I'm with Aaron on this one. . .

[Del Gorky]

This is great news for Superman fans. The Superman titles have been in a huge downswing for quality, probably the worst since the Weisinger days and Berganza has been a large part of the problem. Instead of Waid and Morrison, we got Schultz and Michelinie and then others. The franchise but for the build up to Crisis handled by Rucka would be completely directionless. And the art has been entirely forgettable. It wasn't all bad Joe Kelly did good work and Rucka, as always, delivers quality. But the trio of Superbooks clearly had no real direction. Geoff Johns basically got it right with the Batman's proclamation in Infinite Crisis #1.

This new set of books are a mixed bag. Ion is of no interest but JLA, Titans & Supergirl will probably continue to be read by me.

I'm really looking forward to reading the new Superman books in March!

[Kolimar]

Originally posted by MattBrady
EB: The book I keep coming back to is Action Comics #775, "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?" by Joe Kelly with art by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo because it deals head on with no apologies how great Superman is. It clearly shows how Superman is a mainstay.

HEAR HEAR!! :)

[Zagreuss]

Originally posted by Aaron
I'm not a Berganza fan. His style of "editing" is questionable; the Superman books have been in a creative slump, jumping from one lamebrained idea to another for years. Heck, Batman's line to Superman about "not inspiring anyone since he was dead" was (intentionally or not) a direct shot at Berganza. And he "edited" the very book it appeared in.

If by "editor" his job is to basically sit back, hire half-ass creators with questionable skills to strip DC's premiere character of any charm, not proofread his books, and basically do nothing... well then, yeah, he's a heck of an editor.

Infinite Crisis is not in any way a benchmark for Berganza; it just happens to be created by people who don't really require a heck of a lot of editorial interference, so they make his job easy. It's no secret that the Infinite Crisis EVENT (not the main book itself) is being managed by Didio, Johns, Rucka and Waid.

So, it's with not very much excitement that I look forward to Eddie's new "projects." In my opinion, the man overstayed his welcome in the editorial offices years ago and should be moved into something else while someone with some talent fills the void.

Just my $.02.

Aaron

hmmm and if Azzarello and Lee's Superman had been well recieved then Berganza wouldn't have gotten the credit either.

It seems Berganza can't win for losing ...his sucesses aren't attributed to him(at least his naysayers say this) his writers and artists are given the credit. And yet his writers and aritstss get the credit on his sucesses without the fans aknowledging his involvement.
Like it or not Superman/Batman,Outsiders, and Titans all had Berganza's involvement over the past 2-3 years and were deemed sucesses. - proving that he did not out stay his welcome ..but that some so called fanboys just love finding a scapegoat when fan fave writers and artist don't live up to expectations. (It must be the editor). Fans need to realise that maybe there was nothing wrong with the title but the expectations that they have may be unrealistic. All the while fans were belly aching about the Superman titles they overlooked some really nice stuff. Teams such as Casey and Aucoin and Rucka and Clark were put together by Berganza. Both were gems that were overlooked while many were just bitching for the sake of bitching.

[J.D. Lombardi]

These are pretty entertaining reads and I love DC...but the editors are sounding like those Marvel brass of old who'd agree to give interviews and then just wouldn't talk about really anything in particular. :(

[Zagreuss]

Originally posted by Del Gorky
This is great news for Superman fans. The Superman titles have been in a huge downswing for quality, probably the worst since the Weisinger days and Berganza has been a large part of the problem. Instead of Waid and Morrison, we got Schultz and Michelinie and then others. The franchise but for the build up to Crisis handled by Rucka would be completely directionless. And the art has been entirely forgettable. It wasn't all bad Joe Kelly did good work and Rucka, as always, delivers quality. But the trio of Superbooks clearly had no real direction. Geoff Johns basically got it right with the Batman's proclamation in Infinite Crisis #1.

This new set of books are a mixed bag. Ion is of no interest but JLA, Titans & Supergirl will probably continue to be read by me.

I'm really looking forward to reading the new Superman books in March!

Micheline was nowhere near any books edited by Berganza. He wrote Action comices years before Berganza came on board and left before Berganza took over. Nice try. You praise 2 of his three writers. hmmm he did asemble some great creative teams (as least on paper) It was the teams that failed to delivered or the expectation of the public were looking for something other than what they delivered. But please don't try and blame Berganza for faults on the titles before he even took them over.

[bluebird]

Sorta worried about JLoA (I agree, JUSTICE LEAGUE is the smartest title, marketing and realism wise) if both the writer AND editor are such fans of the Sat. Era, particularly after those characters have been so horribly tainted by IDENTITY CRISIS.

It also means one of my favorite DC-owned characters, Plastic Man, is likely out and off DC's radar for the time being. I hope John Stewart stays GL, becuase Meltzer seems to prefer Hal, despite the fact Hal makes the least sense of all the GLs.

As for "shocking" members, I hope we finally see Black Lightning on the team (Meltzer liked him enough to have some scenes with him in IC), Captain Marvel finally stepping up (like Plas, he's one of comics' biggest characters, but hasn't been officially a Leaguer for longer than, what, six issues in the 80s), some Titans graduating (Cyborg, Nightwing, Arsenal and Tempest, depending on who else is on the team) and some black characters would be nice (Steel, Vixen, a patched up Amazing Man, and, again, Cyborg or Black Lightning).

[fistofkhonshu]

Don't believe him! Its the EDDIE BERGANZA of Earth-2! He's trying to trick us, all his books are fitted with a mind wiping microchip that will make us forget the last 50 years worth of books so they can resell them to us!

:D Those Chaykin pages may be from that book thats solicit reads about Earth 2 Supermans history. I want the Chaykin book. I don't care what its from it looks great. A lot of people forget that those guys who are called upstanding moral do-gooders used to toss people out windows all the time. Superman threw a crook into the path of his own bullets decades ago.

[Aquajacket]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by samnoir
[B]He didn't draw those did he?


No, he just wrote them. For some reason, I just responded without thinking about that fact.

[ErictheRed]

I'm interested to see what Greg Rucka is going to do with Supergirl and also Checkmate. Ron Mars' Ion is yet another book I'm look forward to. Batwoman seem to be a mysterious title DC hasn't announced much about it as well as Flash OYL. I like how DC didn't give away many spoilers yet.

[Jess Nukem]

Hey, I liked Pascal Ferry's Superman. It was dynamic and fresh.

[piper369]

I Really hope OYL has a direction and gives us all something to look foreward to . Superman has always been one of my favorites, but every time I pick up an issue of his it makes no sense and has no direction.
Some of the art was good but I just could not get into it.
He is such a quality "Idea", so many things you can do with him.
It just seems like he is not taken care of as much as Batman is .
I hope this is the run that gets Superman back on top !!!

[KET]

NRAMA: Supergirl's return just kind of completed before Countdown and Crisis got going in earnest. Now that most DC titles are launching with fairly equal-footing ‘OYL’ come March and beyond, do you think Supergirl is firmly established enough in the DC Universe, or is she still finding her place and finding acceptance around the DCU?

EB: From the way the book is being ordered, I think the readers have made her the real deal.


NOT BLOODY LIKELY, judging from the lame reviews these books are getting.

It's really too bad Berganza's still going to be mis-editing SUPERGIRL, since the anorexic bimbo REALLY needs an editor who doesn't just PHONE IT IN with each issue.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by Zagreuss
hmmm and if Azzarello and Lee's Superman had been well recieved then Berganza wouldn't have gotten the credit either.

It seems Berganza can't win for losing ...his sucesses aren't attributed to him(at least his naysayers say this) his writers and artists are given the credit. And yet his writers and aritstss get the credit on his sucesses without the fans aknowledging his involvement.
Like it or not Superman/Batman,Outsiders, and Titans all had Berganza's involvement over the past 2-3 years and were deemed sucesses. - proving that he did not out stay his welcome ..but that some so called fanboys just love finding a scapegoat when fan fave writers and artist don't live up to expectations. (It must be the editor).

Please. Superman/Batman was a Loeb glamour project and, as such, didn't require editorial interference. Jim Lee was coming off of Hush when he did For Tomorrow and, as a Wildstorm bigwig really wasn't going to be looking to someone like Berganza for input and Outsiders and Titans were projects for current golden boys Winick and Johns. What else ya got?

Fans need to realise that maybe there was nothing wrong with the title but the expectations that they have may be unrealistic. All the while fans were belly aching about the Superman titles they overlooked some really nice stuff. Teams such as Casey and Aucoin and Rucka and Clark were put together by Berganza. Both were gems that were overlooked while many were just bitching for the sake of bitching.

Wow, that was an AWFUL LOT of bitching for that many people to be wrong.

I'm not saying there was NOTHING of quality during Berganza's run. But it was, by far, the exception rather than the rule.

[J O R Z A C]

Originally posted by Jesse Newcomb
Hey, I liked Pascal Ferry's Superman. It was dynamic and fresh.
I LOVED Pascual on Superman.
But, as long as he's doing anything, I'm happy.

[Kenro]

I LOVED those retro pages. Maybe I'm asking for the moon but I would have loved to have seen Steve Rude do those retro pages. His Superman is brilliant.

[James Asia]

I think he's not the hottest editor, and while his tenure on the Superbooks gave us some very good stories (Kelly on Action) some mediocre (Some of Loeb, Austen and Schultz), most of it was very crappy.

I like the new Robin outfit though.

[khuxford]

Originally posted by KET
NRAMA: Supergirl's return just kind of completed before Countdown and Crisis got going in earnest. Now that most DC titles are launching with fairly equal-footing ‘OYL’ come March and beyond, do you think Supergirl is firmly established enough in the DC Universe, or is she still finding her place and finding acceptance around the DCU?

EB: From the way the book is being ordered, I think the readers have made her the real deal.


NOT BLOODY LIKELY, judging from the lame reviews these books are getting.

It's really too bad Berganza's still going to be mis-editing SUPERGIRL, since the anorexic bimbo REALLY needs an editor who doesn't just PHONE IT IN with each issue.

Ahem...a bash of DC from KET? Shocking.

The book is selling VERY well. You can't blame him for thinking that the character is well-received. Consumers vote with their dollars. It isn't his fault that many comic fans are loyal to a fault and will buy an incredibly ______ series as long as it has one of their historically favorite characters in it.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER wasn't ______, but if that had been almost any other character, I wouldn't have bothered with it because I'm not really interested in the style of book that Ostrander put out with J'Onn...and certainly didn't think Mandrake was well-suited for the type of book I wanted to see. But I bought every issue. :)

[SmileOnADog]

Predictions:

Stargirl in the Titans
Flamebird becomes Batwoman
Beast Boy in new take on original Doom Patrol

[Wright Blan]

Originally posted by samnoir
Hopefully there is a good reason for "of America" to be in the Justice League of America title. As the world continues to get smaller and smaller, I always thought limiting the heroes to America was short sighted and was really happy when they relaunched the book as Justice League before becoming Justice League International. Given the popularity of the TV show, I would think "Unlimited" would be a good title for the new book if not simply "Justice League".



"Unlimited" implies ties to the animated series, and toward more kids-oriented fare. JLofA will probably be aimed toward the older crowd.

The "of America" part never seemed to limiting pre-Crisis. The team saw action in all parts of the world (and beyond). Not sure how it will relate to the "Satelite Era" League, though. It'll depend on how many survive IC.

[KET]

Originally posted by khuxford
Ahem...a bash of DC from KET? Shocking.


And yet more knee-jerk dismissals from khuxford? Wow, even MORE surprising! :D


The book is selling VERY well.

....on overwhelming HYPE and VARIANT COVERS, which haven't yet transformed into anything remotely substantial. Berganza's always been a master of glossing over substance.


You can't blame him for thinking that the character is well-received.

Oh, YES, we CAN. Berganza also claimed the VERY SAME THING when he was pushing Cir-El. Gee, how'd that turn out? :D


Consumers vote with their dollars.

Nahhh, consumers often BUY INTO THE HYPE, and come out suckers. You should know better than to fall into this logic trap so easily. Frank Miller's latest Batman series didn't land at #1 because it was "well-received", either.

[nighwing2001]

Ok..this is gonna sound cold...and I'm sorry but I just gotta ask. What is the health status of the upcoming people working on Superman/Batman? Anything to cause the book to keep going that this "whenever it comes out...it comes out" status? While I am very sorry at the reasons for the delays of the book under the old team as they all went through some pretty tough stuff in their lives, I'd just like to know if DC is going to have this book start to come out on a monthly basis or if they might has something planned that will prevent this from happening like maybe having someone do some oneshots that they could put out between storylines or anything?

By the way the previews for #26 sound pretty cool. I'm guessing that was Jeph's son?

[R.Fox]

There will be new members, one is an all-new character developed from an existing character that I'm getting very fond of already

Does anyone else think Blue Beetle?

[Kenro]

I see no problem with the name change to Justice League of America. None at all. I remember when people had a bit of a problem when Morrison's run was called JLA. No big deal on that either. I think it's kinda bold actually considering the times we live in.

[Jim]

Lots of talk about Supergirl, but not even a "No comment" about her appearing Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes? (Sure, it's not his book to edit, but at least ask the question.)

All made more interesting by the article abnout the animated shows saying that the Legion cartoon in development is "Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes".

[sebzero11]

Not very informative, was it?

::Sigh::

The only thing that cleared up for me is that I STILL don't give a crap about Kyle Rayner.

[bluebird]

The "of America" only really makes sense epending on the line-up, which we don't know. It certainly didn't make sense for most of this past run of JLA, where the team consisted of a Kryptonian, the king of the independent nation of Atlantis, the princess/ambassador of independent nation Themscyria, a Martian who has established secret identities all over the world, plus three American dudes.

Among American citizens like Steel, Plastic Ma, John Stewart, Firestorm and Huntress, said JLA also included at various times an angel, a couple of New Genesian aliens, a time-displaced man from prehistoric times and an intelligent machine colony from the 853rd century. They were based on the moon, and fought crime/evil in the future, fifth dimension, Middle East, distant past and alien planets, as well as in America.

Metlzer could go a very different way with it, of course, but "of America" didn't make sense over 20 years ago when JLI launched, and it doesn't make anymore now (especially now that there's a successful cartoon that goes by the name "justice leage"/"justice league unlimited").

[bluebird]

The "of America" only really makes sense epending on the line-up, which we don't know. It certainly didn't make sense for most of this past run of JLA, where the team consisted of a Kryptonian, the king of the independent nation of Atlantis, the princess/ambassador of independent nation Themscyria, a Martian who has established secret identities all over the world, plus three American dudes.

Among American citizens like Steel, Plastic Ma, John Stewart, Firestorm and Huntress, said JLA also included at various times an angel, a couple of New Genesian aliens, a time-displaced man from prehistoric times and an intelligent machine colony from the 853rd century. They were based on the moon, and fought crime/evil in the future, fifth dimension, Middle East, distant past and alien planets, as well as in America.

Metlzer could go a very different way with it, of course, but "of America" didn't make sense over 20 years ago when JLI launched, and it doesn't make anymore now (especially now that there's a successful cartoon that goes by the name "justice leage"/"justice league unlimited").

[GeorgeG]

Originally posted by R.Fox
There will be new members, one is an all-new character developed from an existing character that I'm getting very fond of already

Does anyone else think Blue Beetle?

Kid Devil.

[Johnny Triangles]

Originally posted by samnoir
Hopefully there is a good reason for "of America" to be in the Justice League of America title. As the world continues to get smaller and smaller, I always thought limiting the heroes to America was short sighted and was really happy when they relaunched the book as Justice League before becoming Justice League International. Given the popularity of the TV show, I would think "Unlimited" would be a good title for the new book if not simply "Justice League".



I think America should be part of the title because the JLA are an American icon. And it represents what makes America great. Justice League International sounds like some cheesy UN/Nato version of the superteam looking to compromise with the enemy, whereas Justice League America seems like some ass-kicking cowboys out to save the free world.

[khuxford]

Originally posted by KET
And yet more knee-jerk dismissals from khuxford? Wow, even MORE surprising! :D




....on overwhelming HYPE and VARIANT COVERS, which haven't yet transformed into anything remotely substantial. Berganza's always been a master of glossing over substance.




Oh, YES, we CAN. Berganza also claimed the VERY SAME THING when he was pushing Cir-El. Gee, how'd that turn out? :D




Nahhh, consumers often BUY INTO THE HYPE, and come out suckers. You should know better than to fall into this logic trap so easily. Frank Miller's latest Batman series didn't land at #1 because it was "well-received", either.

See also my "comic book fans are known to be overly loyal to their favorite characters" comment. And consumers vote with their dollars. That comic book fans fall for hype doesn't dismiss that point...the American voters fall for hype and false advertising on election day as well. When a president wins an overwhelming majority of the vote, they are seen as having a mandate of the will of the people.

You keep mistaking what you like/dislike with being what is right and wrong.

Now...to borrow a page out of my friend Mike's book...let me try to expose hypocrisy: did you say that New Avengers was a ____ book that sold based on overwhelming hype and variants for the full year of books that were overwhelmingly hyped and had chase variants on every one? :) I highly doubt it.

Don't confuse this with me actually defending the quality of the book. I think it is a fairly vapid book that keeps teasing with potential for the next issue to actually be something good. Like the squaring off with Lex and the black kryptonite thing...has potential. Loeb might just keep the "potential" carrot dangling in front of us and never deliver anything better than mediocrity.

But...as long as it sells well...you can't blame the editor for thinking that means it is well-received. What barometer is he supposed to go by if not sales?

[R.Fox]

Originally posted by GeorgeG
Kid Devil.

Ok I remember now, Kid Devil and Ravager, but wouldn't it be cool to see the new Beetle interact with the Titans?

[khuxford]

Originally posted by R.Fox
Ok I remember now, Kid Devil and Ravager, but wouldn't it be cool to see the new Beetle interact with the Titans?

Hell yeah. But they seem to want to make this new Blue Beetle misunderstood for awhile. The whole blessing/curse thing makes it sound like he'll not really be easily seen as being a pure hero.

[ManofTheAtom]

Only thing I have to say about Eddie leaving the Superman books is this:

Nah Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye

Nah Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye

[Kevin Street]

Originally posted by Johnny Triangles
I think America should be part of the title because the JLA are an American icon. And it represents what makes America great. Justice League International sounds like some cheesy UN/Nato version of the superteam looking to compromise with the enemy, whereas Justice League America seems like some ass-kicking cowboys out to save the free world.

That's sarcasm, right? Just checking...

Anyway, the thing that interests me about the upcoming Justice League of America is that it's written by Brad Meltzer, not the title. I mean, heck, I'm not American and I could care less what they call themselves, it's the stories that count. And Brad Meltzer is the dude who managed to make me care about Sue Dibney. All those pages sustaining interest in a murder mystery, in a field that usually spoils the endings of stories before the beginnings hit the stands - that takes talent.

And as for Eddie Berganza... Well, he's now editing more interesting titles than ever before, so his books aren't going to disappear from my pull list anytime soon. But with Superman, I think he made one crucial mistake that's hinted at in this interview. It sounds like his intention was to make the Berganza era of Superman different from all the ones that came before, maybe even unique when compared with other superhero books being published at the time - but unique isn't what fans want. What we want is good stories created by people that know and love Superman as much as we do, people who "get it," so to speak.

A lot of the creators Berganza brought in were very talented, but I don't think they were all Superman fans, and some of them just didn't understand the appeal of the character. For example, back in the beginning of "For Tomorrow," Brian Azzarrello gave an interview where he talked about how Dark Knight Returns had redefined Batman and Superman for a new generation - and I remember thinking "oh oh" at the time, because anyone who thought Frank Miller's stiff parody character was the same person who appeared in the monthly titles really didn't get it. And as a result of this, many of the creators Berganza brought in were wildly experimental, but off-target, and the sales went down.

[cactusmaac]

It's not surprising to see Berganza being demoted from Superman editor while Tomasi's star continues to rise.

Judging from the interviews of creative staff who worked with him, he's a really nice guy who occasionally throws out a good idea but he doesn't really have much in the way of coherent or strong creative vision.

Which is why the Superman books under his tenure have been lacklustre and directionless and the successes (like Teen Titans, Superman\Batman) have gone uncredited to him since they're perceived as being mostly the work of creators who made their reputations elsewhere and don't need editorial guidance.

Looks like Didio sees him as being a competent office manager who isn't a political threat, which is why Berganza gets Mike Carlin's old titles and a brief to work with guys like Meltzer and Rucka who do all their creative brainstorming with the VP-Editorial but need someone to make sure all the boring admin work is done on time.

[Zagreuss]

It is very interesting to see how "normal" everyday fans seem to know the internal politics and contributions of the working of the inside of DC comics without any actual knowlerdge or idea of what they are talking about.

Cactusmac it only looks like that to you.. Didio may have a very different opinion what and how this guy work obviously by the way they have promoted him (not DEMOTED as some people seem to think this is) that more than a few people like the way he works and how he works. And those fans that don't know anything about how he does his job need to shut their mouths because it just makes them look stupid.(all the details posted in this thread seem to be just conjecture on many fans part)
The only people that have any knowledge of how Berganza does his job and how he performs in it -are his bosses and co-workers and so far based on everything ever printed he does his job well and is very personable to work with.