FLASHING BACK & FORWARD: WAID ON LEAVING FLASH, THE B&B TO COME, AND BOOM!

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

For Mark Waid, it's as much a story of new beginnings as it is a tale of an ending.

While Newsarama contacted Waid about the news that issue #236 will be his last as writer of The Flash, Waid also talked to us about the opportunities he's finding as the new editor-in-chief for Boom! Studios, a position announced last year in San Diego. With the success of his three-issue Potter's Field mini-series from Boom!, Waid told us he's hoping to do more of that series, as well as pursuing other opportunities, including the company's latest movie property, The Godfather.

Waid was part of a surprise Flash relaunch in July with artist Daniel Acuna, after the 14-issue run of Flash: The Fastest Man Alive ended abruptly in June upon the death of then-Flash Bart Allen and the return of former-Flash Wally West to the DCU. The change was something DC had apparently been planning secretly for awhile, even faking solicitations and covers to hide the title change. Since the relaunch, the series has focused on Wally and his family, including two super-powered and quickly aging twin children named Jai and Iris.

After this month's issue #236 by Waid, the Flash series will have a fill-in issue written by Keith Champagne in February, then will be taken over with Issue #238 in March by writer Tom Peyer, whom DC has named regular series writer, along with current artist Freddie Williams II.

But fans of Waid's superhero work shouldn't be too discouraged by his departure from Flash and his foray into creator-owned titles. Waid said he is still working on The Brave and the Bold, the ongoing DC Comics series he's been writing for the last year with George Perez on art. Just how long? And why choose to stay on that series, but leave The Flash? We found out...

Newsarama: So it's time to leave The Flash behind?

Mark Waid: Yeah. Between trying to keep Brave and the Bold moving and all the new duties at Boom!, something had to give.

I'm going to miss working with Freddie, whose enthusiasm was never diminished no matter how many panels I crammed onto a page. Writer-wise, the book's in terrific hands with Tom Peyer, about whom Grant Morrison has said to me more than once, "It's a tragedy he's not writing more DC comics." Tom's probably the best writer out there that no one knows about and hopefully this'll make him the household name he ought to be.

NRAMA: We talked to him yesterday, and he seemed pretty enthusiastic about the title. But just to clarify, you made the decision to leave because of time constraints?

MW: Yeah. Of course, it would have been a harder decision to make had the general reaction to my return to Flash been a little more positive. [laughs]

NRAMA: That made it easier to choose what had to give, huh?

MW: I don't know. You know, I just think, in retrospect, the stars were not in alignment in a lot of ways. I kind of knew we were in trouble right off the bat when I so loved Daniel Acuna's artwork. I so loved it. And I was so unprepared for the insane volume of hatred from the online community about how much they just despised his work on the title. I knew at that point, I thought, "Oh god, we're in trouble. Once more, the online community has me questioning what I thought was good." Which I shouldn't let happen, but it's hard not to do when the volume is that loud.

And at this moment in time, I just ... in terms of superhero work, I feel frozen. I kind of... I feel like I'm momentarily out of step with what fandom wants because I don't get it. The same voices that are screaming that we gave Flash a wife and kids and family, because they say that's not what Flash is, are the same people who are screaming that they've broken up Mary Jane and Peter Parker. "How dare you take his family away!" I'm like, wait! Wait! What? Which way is it? So... growth and change good... or growth and change bad?

NRAMA: When you went into this, did you feel like growth and change were good for this title? Because I remember hearing you in a panel at a convention defending the idea of comics characters not aging.

MW: I still defend that. I still defend that no one wants to see an 18-year-old Bart Simpson. But at the same time, I also believe very strongly in playing the cards that you're dealt. And Wally had two infant children and a wife.

And you know, I thought Wally was an exception to this because Wally was the one character in all of comics that we've been able to watch grow up with some consistency, without any sort of weird continuity blips or reboots of any sizeable nature. And the whole Flash line has been about legacy, about passing the identity along from Jay Garrick to Barry to Wally. So to me, the book is about legacy and is about heritage and family. I felt like that's what the comic has always been about.

So given that when I was approached, I had a wife and two infant children to deal with, it only made sense to me to not drop a safe on them immediately, so that's why I kind of took the gig. I was terrified that if I didn't step in to protect Wally and his family, the next edict would be to [laughs], you know, have Dr. Light rape the children and beat Linda to death or something, and it would be the next Dark Flash. And no one wants that.

NRAMA: But isn't there a lot of good in what you accomplished on the title, establishing this new status for Jai and Iris and the Flash?

MW: I would think so. I would hope so. And I think I'll feel that way once I get some distance from it. And once people stop hurling tomatoes at me when I walk down the street. [laughs]

No, I'm not upset or bickering. I really don't want to come across as bitter. I hope people know, that's not what I'm trying to say. I'm just genuinely confused. I'm not trying to say that sardonically or snipe-ishly. I really am confused by this.

NRAMA: I remember, when we first talked about you taking this title, I asked more than once about you "going back" to the Flash, and you really avoided talking about that. You kept emphasizing that you were trying to do something new and different and not "go back."

MW: Right. I honestly wanted it to be something new. I can't really imagine why people would want me to do the same thing I did years ago when there are already 100 issues of that printed for them to choose from. And again, I'm trying to say this honestly, without being bitter or sarcastic about this or anything. In the market, at this moment, judging by what's successful at both Marvel and DC, it just seems like the market is for stuff that is familiar. That hasn't always been the case, and that probably won't always be the case, but at this moment, it feels very strongly that what everyone wants is a sense of familiarity. Does that make any sense?

NRAMA: It does. But the response to that would be, OK, something new and different might not sell well this time. But so what? Some of what you try does sell well. You just came off 52!

MW: [laughs] I know. I know. And it's not so much that I care about how well the book sells. It's really more important that I feel good about having my name on it.

NRAMA: Exactly. So...

MW: Well, at the same time it's a little dispiriting, because we're not writing in a complete vacuum.

NRAMA: That's understandable.

MW: And don't get me wrong -- there are hundreds of really good, vibrant, exciting and innovative comics being done right now. I'm just not sure they're being done in the superhero field as much. There are still innovative superhero comics out there. But that which seems to be the most widely received in superhero comics right now is not necessarily the most innovative stuff. And that's one of the reasons why Boom! Studios was very attractive to me, because that's a safer harbor for me right now. It feels like there's a lot more latitude to be able to do things. And if I don't feel like I'm clicking with the superhero market right this second, I can either whine and bitch about it or I can go create comics in some other genre for a little while. I'd rather do that.

NRAMA: OK, we'll get to your work at Boom! in a minute. But just to confirm while we're on the subject of superhero comics, you're leaving The Flash, but you're staying with Brave and the Bold, correct? Or are you only on it for 12 issues?

MW: Actually, I'm going to stick around awhile longer than that. I'll do it as long as it's fun.

NRAMA: As long as it's fun?

MW: As long as it's fun. The moment it needs to be in service to nine other crossovers or we're not telling complete stories; I'm going to be banging my head against the pavement. But for the time being, they seem to be content with just letting us go off in our own direction.

NRAMA: Your artist on the March and April issues of Brave and the Bold is going to be Jerry Ordway?

MW: Yes. Apparently George had to move on to another project that he's doing at DC, which broke his and my heart, because we were both looking forward to having a 12-issue run. But Jerry was the first guy I asked for to fill those shoes. Jerry is a phenomenal talent and that he's not doing a monthly book at DC is a crime. And George and I both agree that we couldn't have found a better guy to do the last two chapters.

NRAMA: And this is a two-issue story, right?

MW: Yeah, it's a two-issue stint. Issue #7-#12 all ties together. So while they've been pretty much stand-alone stories, they're also sort of contributing toward a larger arc.

NRAMA: Similar to the first six.

MW: Yeah. But you could say that the story in issues #11 and #12 is our first real two-parter with a genuine unresolved cliffhanger in #11 that pays off in #12.

NRAMA: Anything you want to tell people about the issues coming up in Brave and the Bold?

MW: Issue #11 is Superman and Ultraman and the Crime Syndicate, but it's also Challengers of the Unknown and Metamorpho, and it's also like six other guys, including the Earth-3 Mr. Mxyzptlk, who is becoming my new favorite character.

And Issue #12 is like "Brave and the Bold Presents the DC Universe." It's a big slam-bang finale that guest stars over a dozen of the characters that we've either seen before in the run or some of them that we've not seen yet.

NRAMA: So there's hope for those of us that haven't seen our favorite obscure character show up yet.

MW: Maybe. It's a tough balancing act, that book, because you want to make sure that there are marquee characters. Because, again, as I keep insisting, as much as I would love to buy an issue of Brave and the Bold with Adam Strange and the Metal Men, no one else wants to. So you have to have your marquee characters up there, but at the same time, the fun of it is trying to find ways to co-star or guest star the odder characters that can't necessarily carry their own stories but should be in the book anyway.

NRAMA: OK, let's talk about Boom! now. For Joe Newsarama-reader, explain exactly what it is you do as E-I-C for Boom!

MW: Wow...

NRAMA: I know. I'm sure there's a lot in there...

MW: There is a lot in there.

NRAMA: Just an overview?

MW: Boom is essentially, at this point, as a far as the publishing end of it -- and the publishing end is just part of the bigger picture as is the film producers and media developers or whatever -- but the publishing end of it is a mixture of creator-owned and creator-shared material and anthology stuff like the Zombie Tales book or the Cthulhu Tales book. So half the time I'm spending just working with freelancers generating material for the anthology books and half the time I'm spending with some of the best writers and artists I know, trying to come up with new properties we can launch in 2008.

NRAMA: So do you have a lot of properties launching in 2008?

MW: We do. At this moment, I don't think we can announce anything. But I've been talking to everyone I know who's not under exclusive contract. I've been calling in favors right and left. This sounds like puffery, but it's true: We really do have a lot of cool stuff that we're going to be announcing when we get to the spring.

NRAMA: Then we'll have to talk again in the spring.

MW: We will!

NRAMA: Do you have more of your own projects coming up for the publisher?

MW: I will be taking the first pass at The Godfather. And that, I'm stoked about. That material is iconic. That material is part of the American pop cultural landscape, and that's a lot of fun to delve into. It's fun to write crime, and it's fun to write villains, and it's fun to write morally ambiguous characters. So that's the plan for the near future: Doing that, doing more Potter's Field, then my pick of other creator-owned and creator-shared stuff I've got that I haven't yet done.

It's still kind of sinking in to me that I'm at a place in my career that if I decide tomorrow that I really, really want to do a story about cowboy mimes, or whatever, or pirates in space, I can just do it. And no one can stop me.

NRAMA: That's exciting, isn't it?

MW: It's very exciting! I've been a little slow out of the gate on that because a big part of taking on the Boom! editor-in-chief job was to get the trains there running on time and move everything along there. But now that we seem to have a much tighter grip on scheduling and the future of the company there, then it's time to start exploring what I can be doing on the creator level.

NRAMA: And you said we're getting more Potter's Field?

MW: When Paul Azaceta's schedule opens up a little bit, we're going to do two more. At least two more, that way we can have a nice trade paperback out there for people. Beyond that, the property's got legs. I'm hoping to do as much as Paul has time to do.

NRAMA: And then the next thing we'll see from you will be the pirate mimes, right?

MW: [laughs] Yeah! Pirate Mimes in Space! That's my next thing. And playing baseball. That's my next gig.

[melperfect]

While I can certainly understand how it could happen as a creator, it's too bad that the usual online fan-weirdo venom/hatred got to Mark Waid. I'm sure it gets to lots of other creators as well, it would bother me if I were in his shoes.

Good luck with Boom Studios Mark, and I'll continue to support the Brave and the Bold.

[Ken B.]

I've enjoyed Flash since Waid took over and had no opinion on Acuna's art. I don't know where all the criticisms of him came from. I saw some here but nothing more than the usual differing opinion. Maybe the DC boards?

Also, I've thought those backup strips are some of the best, quickest storytelling I've read in a long time. Especially the first one with Jay Garrick teaching rugged individualism to the anteaters.

And I like the kids. They aren't annoying. They're like Animal Man's kids; nice additions to the story. And of all heroes, the Flash is about moving forward and establishing lineage.

Brave and the Bold....eh...I quit reading after issue #3. Nothing really struck me as it being a premier team up book.

[Merai]

Awesome to see Pérez will be doing something else at DC.

I'm glad Mark is staying on as Brave and the Bold writer even if his Flash run was cut short. I just hope he does some stuff for Marvel now that his exclusive is up.

[larkinja]

Great news about more Potter's Field. I enjoyed it. And I cast my vote for Jerry Ordway to stay on Brave and Bold forever.

Another great interview from Vaneta. Matt, I hope you've signed her to a long-term exclusive contract, because she provides some of the best, if not the best interviews for this site.

[Kevenn]

I loved Acuna's art on Flash. It was the only reason I was picking the title up. When Acuna left, so did I.

[Ovid]

It's a shame the Internet madness got to him. The closeness of the comics community is double-edged. Unfortunately he's right about the 'familiarity' fad that's happened in superheroes right now. Still, I'll continue to get B&B and I'll be keeping a close eye on anything coming out of BOOM!

[Korvac]

I also liked Acuna's art - I felt the STORY was lacking. I like Waid too, though.

I hope Peyer's writing matches his wonderful work on Hourman. I miss that book so much.

[melperfect]

Originally Posted by Merai

Awesome to see Pérez will be doing something else at DC.

I'm glad Mark is staying on as Brave and the Bold writer even if his Flash run was cut short. I just hope he does some stuff for Marvel now that his exclusive is up.

I kind of doubt he'll have any time for Marvel stuff considering his Boom responsibilities.

[Sluggo]

I am very glad to hear that Waid is staying on Brave and the Bold and I really hope they leave him alone and let him do his thing on that book. There are plenty of other books that tie into crossover after crossover. Let this book remain a safe harbor from all that nonsense.

Sad to hear that George Perez is leaving, but I have no problem with Jerry Ordway staying as long as he wants. He is a fantastic artist and I agree with Waid that he needs more regular work.

I would like to see Brave and the Bold be a true GREAT talent showcase title, with Waid the constant and various artists jumping on to tell stories. By that I do not mean 'superstar" artists. I mean industry greats. Perez and Ordway are a great start, get Joe Kubert to draw an issue, get Neal Adams to draw an issue, get John Byrne to draw an issue or an arc. This should be the varsity book, not a try out book for new "hot" talent.

And in case you think I just mean "old guys" I'd also like to see Ivan Reis, Mike McKone, Jim Lee, Ed McGuinness (though that would obviously be a while) Terry Dodson, etc. Established artists who knock it out of the park just about every time.

[cynic79]

I've enjoyed Waid's recent run on the Flash and am sad to see him go, although the title appears to be in good hands.

I also liked Acuna's art, although I can see why it turned some people off. Freddie Williams has been wonderful on that title as well, and I'm glad to hear he's sticking around.

[phunengames]

Thank you for the great interview. Lot of information and it gave me things to look foward too.

I loved this quote...

Originally Posted by MattBrady

MW: Yeah. Of course, it would have been a harder decision to make had the general reaction to my return to Flash been a little more positive. [laughs]

NRAMA: That made it easier to choose what had to give, huh?

MW: I don't know. You know, I just think, in retrospect, the stars were not in alignment in a lot of ways. I kind of knew we were in trouble right off the bat when I so loved Daniel Acuna's artwork. I so loved it. And I was so unprepared for the insane volume of hatred from the online community about how much they just despised his work on the title. I knew at that point, I thought, "Oh god, we're in trouble. Once more, the online community has me questioning what I thought was good." Which I shouldn't let happen, but it's hard not to do when the volume is that loud.

And at this moment in time, I just ... in terms of superhero work, I feel frozen. I kind of... I feel like I'm momentarily out of step with what fandom wants because I don't get it. The same voices that are screaming that we gave Flash a wife and kids and family, because they say that's not what Flash is, are the same people who are screaming that they've broken up Mary Jane and Peter Parker. "How dare you take his family away!" I'm like, wait! Wait! What? Which way is it? So... growth and change good... or growth and change bad?and the Flash?

And this quote too

Originally Posted by MattBrady

NRAMA: So there's hope for those of us that haven't seen our favorite obscure character show up yet.

MW: Maybe. It's a tough balancing act, that book, because you want to make sure that there are marquee characters. Because, again, as I keep insisting, as much as I would love to buy an issue of Brave and the Bold with Adam Strange and the Metal Men, no one else wants to. So you have to have your marquee characters up there, but at the same time, the fun of it is trying to find ways to co-star or guest star the odder characters that can't necessarily carry their own stories but should be in the book anyway.

They were very honest and to the point.

[Rubber Sled]

Well, I'll admit that Mr. Waid's return to the Flash didn't quite do it for me...It wasn't that I thought the story was bad or anything...It's just that when it was announced that one of my favorite writers of all time was relaunching a book starring my favorite character of all time (who had been MIA for over a year), I expected something...bigger. Instead, we got several months of octopus face aliens. I needed more about what happened to Wally and his family, more about him reconnecting with his friends, and more about him dealing with putting his life back together. I thought that the back-up stories with the horse/dog aliens were going to at least fill in Wally's missing year, but the first three parts out of the four haven't had anything to do with that...If the current storyarc had been the second or third arc of Waid's new run, I would have been fine with it. As the first arc of his big return? Not so much, I'm sorry to say...

Anyway, I'm still a huge fan of Mr. Waid. I loved Potter's Field and will continue to enjoy Brave and the Bold.

Mr. Waid, if you're reading this, thanks for taking a moment to give me a hard time over the phone when you were in Omaha last year!

[EMeadow]

Reactions to Waid's interview:

First, I'd love for him to have addressed BOOM's late problems. I love the books, but he came there to a company that can't solicit/release properly and its something that needs to be fixed soon. Or else just admit timeliness means nothing (though that's somethnig the whole industry will eventually need to cough up and say.)

Glad to see he's staying on Brave and Bold, sorry that George had to be taken off the book. But to answer what he said about fan's reactions to Flash:

I certainly don't recall that there was a lot of vitrol to Acuna's artwork. Yes the internet collectively went "Not what we're looking for" but I don't think it was heated. LOL we just said "Put him back on Uncle Sam". And he decided Marvel had better oppurtunities for him.

Also don't know how bad the "hate the wife and kids" argument is here. I like the idea of Wally's progression, and agree that like Peter Parker, he's a character who has shown such significant growth over the years he's someone who should continue to do so while not aging of course. Him being a father is a good thing.

But growth and change is good. Regression is bad. No matter how Quesada spins it, OMD/BND is regression. Backward steps, not forward steps. Good storytelling will only band-aid it for so long.

[tgail]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

The same voices that are screaming that we gave Flash a wife and kids and family, because they say that's not what Flash is, are the same people who are screaming that they've broken up Mary Jane and Peter Parker. "How dare you take his family away!" I'm like, wait! Wait! What? Which way is it? So... growth and change good... or growth and change bad?

20 years of Growth and change for Wally West good.

Retconning away 25 years of growth and change for Peter Parker bad.

[nightwingoracle]

I was excited to see Waid return to FLASH....until I read it. I gave it two issues and then let it go. It just wasn't what I wanted to read. I love Wally and I love Linda....the kids however dominated the book and that wasn't what I was interested in. It has nothing to do with not liking young superheroes...it just I wanted to read a Flash adventure, not a Jai and Iris adventure.

Comparing that to the current abysmal Spider-Man situation is not quite fair. Fans have overwhelmingly supported the Wally and Linda marriage, which has been around for quite some time now. I think people just weren't crazy about the kids dominating the book at Wally's expense.

It scares me that he calls Tom Peyer such a good writer...because outside of HOURMAN, most everything he's written that I've read has been average at best, and down right terrible quite often (DC 2000 and his run on TITANS were just plain awful).

But I will agree with him that Jerry Ordway should be drawing a monthly book. The man's art (especially with the right inker) is fantastic.

I hate to see Perez pulled off BRAVE AND BOLD. That was the major calling card on that book. I like what Waid has done on the book storywise, so I'll still stay around for it. And I do like the unusual pairings. The current issue with the oddball pairings has been a lot of fun. I'd love to see a Supergirl/Tommy Tomorrow pairing (both as an homage to their past meeting pre-COIE and as a way of spotlighting Tommy); a Wonder Woman/Catwoman pairing; a Nightwing/Red Arrow pairing; and a Creeper/Demon pairing.

[geoffdude]

Waid : "MW: I don't know. You know, I just think, in retrospect, the stars were not in alignment in a lot of ways. I kind of knew we were in trouble right off the bat when I so loved Daniel Acuna's artwork. I so loved it. And I was so unprepared for the insane volume of hatred from the online community about how much they just despised his work on the title. I knew at that point, I thought, "Oh god, we're in trouble. Once more, the online community has me questioning what I thought was good." Which I shouldn't let happen, but it's hard not to do when the volume is that loud."

I'm one of those who did not like Acuna's art style. But, could of tolerated it if the new Wally stories had been more dynamic. I like Waid's previous work, but there was no deep history of Wally as the Flash with kids in tow. The kids were born, then there were a few really bad stories with them in it, then BAM!, Wally and family were gone for over a year. Enter Bart, exit bart. The basic idea here is fans want good, new, FLASH stories... not new mandates that must be spoon fed us. Flash fans are waiting for some really good FLASH only Super Hero stories not FLASH & FAMILY fire-side chats.

Waid : " The same voices that are screaming that we gave Flash a wife and kids and family, because they say that's not what Flash is, are the same people who are screaming that they've broken up Mary Jane and Peter Parker. "How dare you take his family away!" I'm like, wait! Wait! What? Which way is it? So... growth and change good... or growth and change bad?"

C'mon... is this really that hard to figure out. If so, then maybe it's time for a new gig (with all due respect). Spider-man while married, didn't have too many OPRAH story lines running through the titles. Sure, MJ, May and etc., would pop in from time to time, but for the most part Spidey was always involved with some ACTION, or what-not, and the family baggage was left by the side of the road. FLASH, while only recently married (compared to Spidey) never really got the chance to grow that status quo before the babies came, and then FLASH-FAMILY vanished, and then Bart, and then no Bart, and then FLASH-family found, then jumped-aged kids, and then FLASH-family stories... and on and on.

The two characters stories are not comparable. And in the end, Spidey's doesn't matter to the FLASH, or the writers personal home life (married and with kids ). What matters is telling stories about a guy who can run FAST, I mean really SONIC FAST, and kicks some butt while doing it. That's what seems to have been lost over the last few years. It's high time for DC to finally remember this, and get back to the fundamentals of what makes this book unique.

geoffdude

[Spade]

I think his run would have been better if he had a better threat for Flash.

[IvCNuB4]

including the Earth-3 Mr. Mxyzptlk

Wait .. why would there be an Earth-3 Mxyzptlk ? The Fifth Dimension is outside of the multiverse .....

[Kiryu]

I've loved Jai and Iris and I'll be done with anything on DC that isn't essential if they mess with those kids. I'll miss Mark on Flash quite a bit. Glad to see Brave and the Bold will continue, sad to see George go, but Ordway should do nicely.

[tgail]

Originally Posted by EMeadow

I certainly don't recall that there was a lot of vitrol to Acuna's artwork. Yes the internet collectively went "Not what we're looking for" but I don't think it was heated. LOL we just said "Put him back on Uncle Sam". And he decided Marvel had better oppurtunities for him.

I recall more than a little Acuna hate, and I have to admit that although I was not one of the outspoken haters, I certainly didn't enjoy his take on The Flash. I didn't think he was a good fit at all. Everybody looked too beefy. It was weird. Of course, I haven't really been fond of any art on Flash since 225, so...

[pfunk70]

I agree with the above posters. I've enjoyed both of Waid's runs on the Flash and have enjoyed the art of Acuna and WIlliams. The story, while a bit slow to get its legs is still a 100 times better than the restart with Bart (minus Guggenheim's short stint). Hopefully, Waid will make a long stay on B&B as it is currently among my top 3 books each month.

[ElijahSnowFan]

that was an interesting interview, because of Waid's candor in answering the questions.

speaking for myself about his current Flash run, i found the Acuna art to be...acceptable. i simply don't recall liking it or disliking it enough to comment on it.

the problem i had with the storyline that Waid crafted was, again, with PACE.

i swear, we get these status quo changes, and Waid is correct: fans ask for certain things, and we do want them.

but i'll say it: his storyline was SLOW. it was decompressed, it was...boring. i felt no real urgency in the storyline, nothing to grab me and make me care.

it was the same thing that plagued Bart Allen's relaunch -- for some reason, companies and creators think writing for a trade before you even grab the readership with the change itself is effective, and i truly don't think it is.

again, i respect Mark Waid's technical ability as a writer as much as anyone in the industry. but i found his Flash return to be so slow, i just didn't enjoy reading it nearly as much as i thought i would.

please, if any creator even cares what one reader thinks: STOP THE DECOMPRESSION. you are killing us, AND yourselves.

[Scarlet Mage]

Since the fans, especially on the Internet, turn on Mister Waid pretty much every other project maybe he should plan accordingly. Before teh the next DC project he pours his heart and soul into maybe he should do a Prez or Brother Power The Geek one shot first just to give them their target and get the hate out of the way.

[Kamandi2]

Since George is off Brave and the Bold, is it going to be monthly instead of 9 times a year?

Heck, if Ordway can handle it, make it semi-monthly