Well, now that DC’s announced it, I can talk about YOUNG JUSTICE going away. Which is obviously upsetting for me, considering it’s pretty much the best selling title I’m writing.
I know some creators can’t wait to announce a title of theirs being cancelled. I’m not one of them. I’m just not real big on spreading around bad news. And I’m actually somewhat surprised how depressed I am about this, considering originally I only committed to doing six issues. But I’ve grown very attached to the kids.
What caused YJ to go away, despite healthy sales? The “Teen Titans” animated series. Ironic, I know, considering I wrote an early verison of that series bible (although I’ve since learned that the version which got the series green lit didn’t feature any of the work I did on it. And since I don’t want to claim credit for stuff that other people did, I figured I should set that record straight.) The moment the “TT” series got the go-ahead, DC decided to scuttle YJ so they could produce a “Teen Titans” comic more evocative of the forthcoming cartoon…which I did my original work on because they wanted it to be in the spirit of YJ.
So why wasn’t I then asked to write the new TT comic? Well, come on: Who relaunches a new comic series with the same characters and the same writer? That trick never works.
I suppose what I regret the most was, when “Impulse” and “Superboy” were both canceled, I was going to have free rein with the characters. I could do anything I wanted with them since YJ had become their home book. And now I won’t have the chance to do them.
And I’m also going to regret not working with Todd Nauck anymore. In this day and age when artists ricochet from book to book and get “hot” that way, Todd stayed with the book from start to finish and only got better and better…and less and less heralded simply because he remained in one place. Just like Leonard Kirk. Many fans gripe about the transience of artists, but then take artists (and books) for granted when the creative team remains for year after year. Kind of a mixed message there.
YJ wraps with #55. Fortunately enough, I’ve known about this for a long enough time that I can pull everything together in a four part storyline that brings to a head several main subplots. In short: Secret goes off the deep end. Darkseid recruits her. The Wonder Girl/Superboy percolating romance is finally addressed. Red Tornado returns. Harm returns. Slo-Bo makes a shocking revelation. Lotsa neat stuff. My thanks to the longtime YJ fans who have supported the book…and my regrets that I couldn’t do more to keep the series around.
In the meantime, I’ve got several new projects in the hopper. I’ll announce them as soon as the contracts are signed.
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