Good.

Good for you, Greg. We all know how hard it can be when loyalty and wanting to do what’s best for you are at odds, and I’m sure we’re all happy that you’ve successfully navigated your way out of that tangle.

So much for a new, on-going Question series…

Saw this one coming a mile away. I loved Rucka on DC, but hopefully this will pay the company notice that micromanagement frm up above won’t be tolerated.

Why co-written by Bru? Rucka can stand on his own two feet, and him solo on Daredevil, or any book, would be a good run.

Too bad DC.
Rucka is a great writer and you’re nuts to let the guy go. Treat your intelligent creators with some respect please. Geez.

Good luck to Greg, sounds like he needs a change . . . but what’s been his problem with DC? Too much editorial interference?

I’d love to see him get to work on his creator own work for a bit. Come back and join Marvel with a Nick Fury/SHIELD book or ideally turn Iron Man into a marque book again. He’s done Wolverine in the past so that’s always an option. I could see him writing a good Thunderbolts run. If Brubaker wants a break from Cap or Daredevil, Rucka would be a perfect replacement. Reviving Alias or start a new Jessica Jones book would be good. Black Widow is a natural Queen and Country parallel.

Seeing Rucka on a Nick Fury book, doing a long Iron Man run, and a new series(Black Widow, Jessica Jones). He would fit right in with the stable of amazing writers at Marvel.

Ditto, NightwingOracle.
This doesn’t mean he’s leaving DC, it just means he can pursue other ventures again. His Checkmate is outstanding and the current mini Five Lessons of Blood starring The Question is a real thinking person’s comic, lots of layers.

It doesn’t really mean anything for DC other than they don’t have to pay him benefits. He didn’t say he wouldn’t continue to work for DC. He just said he wasn’t renewing his exclusive. That means he can continue to work at DC and take projects at Marvel and other companies as well.

hello
that problen with dc the do not how to keep great talent
hopefully marvel will pick him up

#

Fury’s return in 2008 followed by a trademark-Rucka political/techy espionage SHIELD book with John Ringo doing the annuals. That would be great.

Comment by kk — December 5, 2007 @ 6:53 pm

That would be awesome!

This BLOWS! I Love his work and read almost exclusively DC books.I didn’t realize the big ups treated him so poorly and I hope they get the message. This last year was probably as a universe one of the worst in a long time. I hope they treat talent better and learn from their mistakes

After doing both Queen & Country and Checkmate, a SHIELD book feels awfully redundant, not the kind of thing that breaks a writer out of self-described “slump.” His comments don’t sound like he wants to jump over to an exclusive with Marvel either. Let’s hope this means more creator-owned stuff from him, like the previously announced Stumptown series from Oni.

I hope he does more Queen & Country, or any other creator-owned project. I’m tired of great writers being shoehorned into doing corporate comics.

Well, there goes “Checkmate”’s good quality. God******…

While I hope he stays on with some DC work, I agree with those who recommended him for Iron Man, especially with the role that SHIELD plays in the book too. But I’d also love to see him return to Black Widow…

Man this SUCKS. Guess my Checkmate collection will be ending soon. One of the best comics on the market.

I am sad, but I understand

As many have stated, this does not mean that Greg will not be continuing his DC work. Rucka is one of the best LITERARY writers in comics, clearly elevating the medium and being respectful of readers by never insulting anyone’s intellegence, and by allowing artists to tell their part of the story too. However, sometimes this didn’t translate well. Rucka’s WONDER WOMAN was one of the best runs that character ever had, but it took Greg a long while to get there, layering groundwork over the course of months before you could appreciate his genius. Maybe this style is while he feels burnt out. All I know is that I look forward to seeing what he does, and knowing that I’ll be in for a thought provoking story, be it superhero or otherwise.

I’m sure Marvel will love to have him, I know I’d love to see him there.

“Rucka’s WONDER WOMAN was one of the best runs that character ever had, but it took Greg a long while to get there, layering groundwork over the course of months before you could appreciate his genius. Maybe this style is while he feels burnt out.”

Yeah, he laid some wonderful groundwork, introducing concepts and characters that were intriguing….and then CRISIS (re)happened, and wiped all that out. Maybe this is why he feels burnt out…..

Wow, I wonder how many other writers are close to not reupping with DC.

I INJOYED HE’S WORK AT DC. HOPE HE WILL COME BACK LATER, AND DO MORE.

Let’s not forget that Rucka also wrote one of the best Spider-Man stories in the past 10 years in Tangled Web (although it barely featured Spidey and was more of a Kingpin story). I’d love to see him return to Marvel and team up with Bru and Lark again. It’d be cool to see the Marvel version of Gotham Central though I doubt they’d repeat themselves in that manner.

Maybe now we can finally get another Whiteout story out of him in time for the release of the movie.

marvel:welcome to back greg!

And just like that, Vaneta brings some sanity to the responses here.

I think the people who ALREADY have a problem with DC are the ones who are reading between the lines because they WANT Rucka to have as big a problem as THEY do.

Anyone remember a little thing called Whiteout that is being made into a movie? It will help push Rucka into a position where he can write movie scripts and make BANK. Comics are a pittance compared to what you can get when you option a script. Rucka doesn’t have to put all his eggs in one basket in order to be fed. That’s all that’s going on here. If anything, he might feel that DC editorship’s way of doing things isn’t worth the money, not that what DC is doing is somehow “wrong”.

hell probably do an arc of amazing. maybe everyone will. itll be awesome!

I really hope he stays on Checkmate. My dream world is Checkmate, Queen and Country, Stumptown, an ongoing Question [even if I still miss Charlie] and the next Atticus novel.

Please stay on your DC books Greg, even if you’re not exclusive!

I hope that he gets improved in the personal thing.

But his Wonder Woman was a terrible comic.
He destroyed a personage who never dealt (if WW who supposes that she is together with Superman the purest and perfect thing that the human being gives, is not capable of finding an option C and she decides to kill, go hopes believe), he was unable to give her something that Perez had not done anything, and was unable to end one only plot arch of that he initiated in his stage … what was in the book that she wrote?.
I believe that Rucka’s Wonder Woman is the worst stage that the personage has had in her more than 65 years of history. A personage who has the heredity of big authors as Phil Jimenez, Byrne, Messner Loeb, George Pérez, Roy Thomas, Gene Collan, Don Heck and a length etc

Another thing is that he does comic better as Without, Gotham Central, Batman, Queen and Country…But his Superman, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Elektra, etc are very bad works.

He does not have Brubaker’s aptitude to touch any genre with mastery.

“I’d love to see him get to work on his creator own work for a bit. Come back and join Marvel with a Nick Fury/SHIELD book or ideally turn Iron Man into a marque book again. Black Widow is a natural Queen and Country parallel.
Seeing Rucka on a Nick Fury book, doing a long Iron Man run, and a new series(Black Widow, Jessica Jones). He would fit right in with the stable of amazing writers at Marvel.”
totally agree with Andrew words!

Manolo -

I’d argue that rucka’s Wonder Woman is the most interesting, three-dimensional, relatable take on the character I’ve ever seen. The political aspects of the first arc were so well done. Cale was an excellent nemesis for her. And Sacrifice was absurdly well thought out.

I don’t think we’ll have another run on Wonder Woman that good in the next 30 years. I just don’t think it’s possible.

If Rucka’s decision has to do with being unable to live with micromanagement from above, then he’s definitely doing the right thing for himself. That said, something about what management is doing appears to be working, because it looks like to me that DC has beaten Marvel for the second month in a row. What matters to DC brass is not Art, but the bottom line, and while I have taken great issue with some of their choices, I have to begrudgingly give them their due. Whether they are the best decisions for the long run is certainly debatable, and creators who don’t want to play along should definitely find other homes. I can understand that–I’d probably be doing the same thing in his position.

I swear I didnt understand anything written in that post from Manolo. hehehehe. owelll…

In the 70’s, DC lostJack Kirby.
In the 80’s, DC lost Alan Moore.
In the 90’s, DC lost Neil Gaiman.
In the 00’s DC lost Ed Brubaker, Mark Millar, Alan Moore (again), Garth Ennis and now Rucka.

During that entire time, they’ve had Paul Levitz. Maybe it is time to change the top, instead of the “bottom” talent.

What’s a “personage”?

Sigh … This is a mixed thing here. Favourite writer not re-upping okay. I get he’s been frustrated and it’s completely understandable that he wants to leave. Best of luck always. The fact that this may mean more Q&C has me giddy. The fact that this means Stumptown on a regular basis is amazing. The fact that this means we may finally see Everest is outstanding.

The fact that we may not see more Rucka-penned Checkmate is very sad. The fact that we may not see more Rucka-penned Renee Montoya is depressing (this is one of the greatest new-age female characters created). The fact that there may not be another chance to see a Rucka-penned Wonder Woman is devastating (the finest interpretation of the character I’ve ever seen. If the WB wants to make a movie about Diana, just take a look at Greg’s run. It is a thing of beauty and depth and somehow grounded in a precise reality). The fact that we may not see that Rucka/J.H. Williams Bat-Woman is a travesty.

But still, as long as Greg’s happy, then I’m happy. Best of luck!

If not fer nuttin’, the problem here is that too many people are trying to sum up a complicated multi-layered situation with a simple sole source and promote prejudices in the process….(hunh, I’m sounding like Stan Lee).

Anyway, ambitious projects tend to be very difficult. Any great piece of work has it’s story, but let’s reserve judgement with “who’s to blame”, because in the end, often-times the problem is atmospheric and nothing to do with specifics. Problems tend to pile up, and in the end that pile either is managable, or it’s best to say, “maybe next time.”

Is Dan impossible to work for? Is Greg tough to deal with? Who knows, personally I like and support both men. Valuable to this industry, and I know this personally.

Whatever the reason, it’s been a great collaboration with wonderful things brought forth from DC and it’s no doubt due to both men’s strengths.

Sorry to hear this Greg, I understand completely. Good luck, bro.

As a fellow sufferer of SAD I totally feel for you Greg. SAD has been the reason behind job changes in my past, and the reason I haven’t taken more lucrative jobs in other areas across the country. I am glad you have been able to come to some terms. Nothing like a trip to sunny LA to bring things back in order. No matter where you publish I am sure I will pick up your work.

Just to insert some reality and rationality into this mess… Not renewing an exclusive doesn’t mean you’re LEAVING the company. It means you can work on whatever you want to, for whoever. When I finished my last exclusive at DC, I simply went non-exclusive, and started working at both Marvel and DC. I didn’t sign with Marvel until almost a year later, and was having books published by both companies for a long time after that, even.

All this means is Greg is opening up his options, not starting a war.

Dammit, Brubaker, quit confusing the issue with LOGIC! That has no place on Newsarama!

Good luck Greg! I’m a DC fan first-and-foremost and Brubaker is correct, leaving an exclusive contract doesn’t mean that Greg has to terminate all relations with the company.

I can understand a creator’s frustrations if he is frequently being “editorially-overruled”, or cannot count on others to pull their weight on a project, and being “non-exclusive” may force publishers to think a bit more carefully about how they treat their talent.

No SAD for Rucka. He said at his blog that it is not health related.
—–
SAD—Seasonal Affective Disorder—is indeed a terrible thing to suffer from. I used to suffer quite keenly from it. You lose all energy and motivation. For example, I once sat down to put my socks on and 15 minutes later had only one on. It’s like you are in a heavy fog.

The key is more sunlight. The ultraviolet sun rays enter through the retina to stimulate the Pineal gland. But it’s real tough to get enough sunshine, in the gloomy winters, the further you are away from the equator.