Chip Zdarsky explains why he’s leaving Batman. The NYCC 2024 Spider-Man panel got tense. Skybound explains they are taking care of G.I. Joe‘s Larry Hama.
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Episode Transcript:
Chip Zdarsky explains his exit from Batman.
NYCC Spider-Man panel debated heavily online.
Skybound looking out for Larry Hama’s bottom line.
This is Comic Book Club News for October 23, 2024.
Chip Zdarsky Explains Why He’s Leaving Batman:
Over this past weekend, it was announced that Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb are taking over the regular Batman title from DC Comics for a sequel to their classic storyline, Hush. So what does that mean for regular Batman writer Chip Zdarsky? Turns out, he was planning on leaving much earlier.
Per Zdarsky’s newsletter, the writers explained that back last spring he decided to start wrapping things up for a number of reasons. First, he was finishing up a big arc with artist Jorge Jiménez. Second, editor Ben Abernathy was leaving for Skybound. And third, he had a big workload and needed to prioritize.
So per Zdarsky, he informed DC he was leaving Batman in April, just before Chicago’s C2E2. However, they asked if he could stick around for an arc in October, and so decided to do a standalone arc to finish things up.
Said Zdarsky, “I’m super proud of our final story, though scheduling issues forced it to go to biweekly, which meant Jorge sadly couldn’t draw it all. But then OTHER scheduling issues put it back to monthly, but what are you gonna do? Comics be comickin’.”
So now Zdarsky’s run extends to February 2025, before handing the reins over to Loeb and Lee in March. Congrats to Zdarsky on the run, and good luck toiling in obscurity from here on out. Just kidding.
New York Comic Con Spider-Man Panel Fields Tense Q&A:
The latest flap in the comic book community? An exchange between a fan and Spider-Man editor Nick Lowe at this year’s New York Comic Con.
After a relatively smooth panel of announcements and plugs that actually started a minute or two early, Lowe opened the floor to Q&A. And the first questioner proceeded to press Lowe on several subjects, starting with the death of Kamala Khan in Amazing Spider-Man last year. The fan called out what he characterized as “misogynistic writing” in terms of killing Ms. Marvel outside of her own title, as well as the treatment of Mary Jane and Black Cat.
In response, said Lowe “I would disagree with the premise of the question,” and added that “art is subjective,” then thanked the fan for the question. When pressed further, Lowe said that while he appreciated the strong feelings, the Spider-office are big fans of Mary Jane and Black Cat, and Kamala Khan was a supporting character in the title for a while — though the fan noted she was in 25 panels. “I’ve kind of found those arguments pretty thin,” added Lowe, ultimately shutting the fan down when they kept pushing the argument.
While your mileage may vary on what happened here, having been in the room: yes, this was extremely tense, with Lowe clearly getting more frustrated the longer the fan pressed. However, the fan also kept pushing Lowe and asking questions, despite the editor thanking him and saying they were moving on to the next question several times. While Lowe could have been more selective with some of his language in a public setting, the fan also was not helping things. Basically, it was like being stuck in the middle of a real-life message board
But hey, that’s Comic Con.
Skybound Making Sure Larry Hama Is Financially Compensated:
Larry Hama has been working longer than anyone alive on G.I. Joe comics. But he’s also, per his own public statements, struggled financially while doing so. And in fact noted that he won’t be able to retire because he just doesn’t have the money to do so.
Here’s some good news, though. Per The Beat, Skybound’s Publisher Sean Mackiewicz is aware of the issues Hama has expressed in the past. And with a recent, successful Kickstarter of his work, they made sure he got a cut.
Said Mackiewicz: “I don’t like to talk about anyone’s financial situation, but I feel like we’ve always taken care of Larry, and Larry’s said that publicly… It’s good to put him in the spotlight. Making sure he’s financially compensated is important to us.”
Unfortunately, this is only a news item inasmuch as the majority of the comic book industry does not find financial compensation important. Still, good on Skybound, and here’s hoping Hama can retire on his own terms.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And hey does anybody remember that Chip Zdarsky guy? I wonder what happened to him.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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