DC’s recent announcement of the cancellation of Robin, Nightwing and Birds of Prey has been making the rounds, causing a lot of reaction.
Rich from Comic By Comic reflects on the decline of Birds of Prey:
But sadly over the past few years it’s floundered. Gail Simone’s run started off strong but started to suffer as soon as the Birds moved from Gotham to Metropolis. And the thing is, at it’s heart, BoP had always been about the friendship between Barbara and Dinah. Sure, having Helena and Zinda in the mix was fun, but once Dinah left it wasn’t the same.
Since Gail Simone left, the creative juggling of Sean McKeever and Tony Bedard hasn’t helped, and neither have a few other things. Manhunter never really gelled with the team, Barda was killed by crossoveritis before she got settled, Gypsy vanished into the night, Misfit you wished would vanish, Black Alice came, went, came, maybe went…
Mon-El of the Fortress of Solitude is disappointed but resigned:
That’s right, DC has cancelled three of my favorite books. Now we all know I’m not one of these idiot fanboys that go off crying to their mothers when stuff like this happens, so I’m patiently waiting for the reasons to become known. Maybe they are rebooting or revamping the titles? Maybe the whole Batman RIP thing is going to wreak havoc with all the Bat related titles? Maybe Geoff Johns is going to take over the Legion book, and then soon after, the entire world?
I don’t know what’s coming up, but I’ve been reading comics for long enough to know that I’ll get my precious Shadow Lass and Nightwing and Babs back again soon, somewhere, somehow. While I’m not happy in the short run about the cancellations, sooner or later those characters and books will be back and better than ever.
While J.R. Wicks from Comicdom Wrecks has a few theories:
Now, from a story-driven cancelation, there are two likely possibilites. These books are canceled, and new books are launched, starting with issue #1. (I personally do not understand the fascination with #1 issues for the sake of giving someone a place they feel like they can jump onto a title. Likewise, I do not buy the excuse for not getting into a book because it has too much history. I do not pick who I talk to based on the amount of history I have to learn about them. But I digress.) The rumor I saw floating around is that after “R.I.P.” two books would be launched, titled Red Robin and Batman & Robin, with the mystery (as of this writing) of who would be in what position, this could work. Another possiblity is that the books are only going on a hiatus for a little while, and then starting where they left off.
What do you think?
November 10th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I seem to be the minority when I say that I have been enjoying the current run on BoP. I was excited about the new Platinum Flats set-up, and liked the potential for more focus on Babs, Helena, Lady Blackhawk and Misfit (I like Dinah, but I don’t really miss her on this book)… and to have that all scrapped in the wake of Batman RIP when it’s not even a Bat-book anymore? Very disappointing. If the Birds got back to Gotham, it’ll feel like a regression at this point.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am
i think that Batman and Detective are going to get canceled / relaunched as well. Neil Gaiman basically already said it.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I have to say that Dick Grayson [original Robin aka Nightwing] has NEVER received his due. That character is a golden age character who’s been around longer than Wonderwoman, as long as Green Lantern, and been written steady [in one book or another] since his inception.
If there was ever a DC character who had a LEGION of die hard fans, it would be Bat-Fans who collect all things related to Batman. Nightwing being at the center of that.
Cancel his book for another? Seems dumb.
By the way, even if they do launch two more books [Red Robin & Batman & Robin] they cancelled THREE so there is still a lost revenue stream…
November 10th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I suspect the cancellations are related to the costume shuffle that’s bound to occur once Batman R.I.P. is over and someone new takes up Batman’s role. That could lead to new Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, and who knows what else. It makes sense to cancel the books and start over rather than have, say, Tim Drake become the main character in Nightwing, or something like that.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Hard to see how Birds of Prey fits into the costume shuffle. Seems more likely to be an honest-to-goodness cancellation.