Update: J.T. Krul has spoken out on the matter, with this statement to Newsarama:
“I am working on a new DC project, among other things, and wanted to focus on it. I had to let something go and there was no way I was leaving Captain Atom. It’s my favorite DC project to date.”
Krul also posted about leaving Green Arrow on his Facebook page:
Hey everyone! Effective as of issue #4, I will no longer be writing Green Arrow. As many of you know, Oliver Queen is one of my favorite characters in the DC Universe, so this decision was not easy to make. Getting the chance to do the fall of Green Arrow and my run during Brightest Day was a dream come true, and I was excited to bring a new yet familiar take on Green Arrow in the new 52. But, I’ve been writing him for a few years now and an opportunity came up that I really wanted to tackle. I had to make a choice. In a way, my decision to leave is more a testament to how incredibly thrilled I am about Captain Atom. I don’t think I’ve been more excited about a project. Working with Freddie Williams is amazing and I really think it’s among my best work at DC to date. It was a tough call – like picking a favorite child.
I can’t talk about my new project just yet, but it perfectly exemplifies what DC is all about with the New 52 – taking the best characters in comics and presenting them in new and exciting ways. The ability to think outside the box, take chances, and tell different kinds of stories is why it’s a great time to be writing for DC Comics.
For sure, I’ll miss Oliver Queen – and working with the likes of Dan Jurgens, George Perez, David Baron, and Dave Wilkins – but I’m sure the Emerald Archer will be in good hands for more globe-trotting, James Bond, high adventures.
And, at the very least, I got to include my version of the boxing-glove arrow.
jt
Original story: DC’s December solicitations — being released in groups throughout the day — listed Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens as co-writers of Green Arrow #4, in place of regular series writer J.T. Krul. Newsarama has confirmed with Giffen that this is not a fill-in, and that he and Green Arrow artist Jurgens are the new co-writing team on the book going forward. Krul remains the solicited Captain Atom writer for December’s issue #4.
This isn’t the first creative team shake-up among DC’s The New 52 relaunch — last week, co-writer John Rozum announced that he’s leaving Static Shock.
Green Arrow is the second title for Giffen in The New 52, as he’s also co-writing — with DC co-publisher Dan DiDio — and illustrating O.M.A.C. Along with his Green Arrow duties, Jurgens is also writing Justice League International. The solicitation for Green Arrow #4 follows below. (Vaneta Rogers contributed to this report.)
GREEN ARROW #4
Written by KEITH GIFFEN and DAN JURGENS
Art by DAN JURGENS and GEORGE PEREZ
Cover by DAVE WILKINS
On sale DECEMBER 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
It’s a Tokyo showdown! At an international tech expo that caters to the likes of WayneTech and Queen Industries, party crasher Green Arrow finds himself in the sights of a mystery woman bent on taking down “evil” corporations – like the one Green Arrow owns!
September 19th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
I have a feeling we’re going to hear a lot more announcements like this, with top notch, under appreciated, work horse creators stepping in to take over a lot of titles. Green Arrow got middling reviews, even though it didn’t make sense from the beginning when pre-NU Green Arrow under Krul failed to make a splash (and his Arsenal series was a trainwreck). I bet that DC editorial is looking at last week’s reviews and trying to figure out who else can step in and take over some of the titles, with Suicide Squad seeming like the top candidate for shake-ups.
Usually Nicenza would be a perfect go-to guy for taking over a title on short notice, since he’s in the same work ethic and quality class as Giffen. However, since his Legion book just got panned I wonder if that will affect things.
Also, this seems like the absolute worst possible time for DC to have treated Waid and Rucka in a way that landed them on Marvel books. If there’s two creators that should be on DC books for a reboot I’d put them above Morrison and Johns, even.
September 19th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Now I can buy this book. Giffen is completely unexpected on Green Arrow: that means it is going to be so much better.
And, yes, Brian is right about that.
September 19th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Green Arrow was one of the books that I wasn’t going to pick up again, but now with Griffen aboard I difinitely will pick it up. Suicide Squad I though was well done! If any other book needs a look at I would say Mister Terrific. I thought the writing was horrible. Good news for Green Arrow though!!
September 19th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Hm. If only they would pair Giffen and Jurgens on JLI.
But Keith has said he’s done with JLI after 25 years. Hard to blame him, really.
September 19th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Green Arrow #1 was the most generic super hero tale I’ve read in quite some time. It could have been almost any hero; it wasn’t Green Arrow at all. I had already decided not to pick up issue #2. Maybe I’ll try #4 when Giffen comes on, although I’m not sure he’s the right talent for Green Arrow. Jurgens as co-writer might make it work though.
September 19th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I agree with Brian’s comment.
September 19th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Ding dong, the witch is dead! I voted with my dollars on GA#1 this time, being the first GA book I declined to purchase since I jumped all in to the Grell run so many years ago.
Krul’s stories weren’t even “meh” enough for me to go through the motions. I dont know if it was ever fair to him, since he had to write a one year Brightest Day crossover story that Im sure had a substantial amount of editorial influence, but even before then… and as Brian said, Arsenal was, um, not Scottish.
For those saying is has something to do with how books have been reviewed as they come out, I say hogwash. The stories for issue 4 were being worked on before last week’s books came out. And besides, OMAC was turrible, also by Giffen.
September 19th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Murdered a young kid Lian Harper in cold blood
Had GA commit murderous acts and deeds
Chopped of Roy/Red arrow’s hand, a grieving dad
Had Black canary divorce off GA at the worst moment possible
Booted away Mia and Connor out of the book for no good reason.
Comes back with a new GA that is just a bad version of Iron Man.
WHO does that? No Krul had just about done everything to p*ss me off. He was destroying the Green Arrow empire gradually but surely. Hate to see anyone lose their job really, he maybe a good writer but I don’t think this title was ever for him. I’m not familiar with the new guy Giffens, will have to see what he comes up with so far like sound of GA #4.
September 19th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Yes!
And next take JT off Captain Atom, please, and give that book to an underappreciated-yet-consistently-solid writer + artist as well.
Like JMS on Superman and WonderWoman, DC over-hyped JT on Teen Titans and on Green Arrow. He never came close to living up to it
September 19th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
JT Krul has thusly tweeted: “Essentially, I am starting on a new project and needed to make a tough call…Green Arrow or Captain Atom.”
hope Captain Atom reads better than Green Arrow. because it was very pedestrian, which a Green Arrow book should never be.
September 19th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
What do you guys expect? Green Arrow is a lame character. Everyone should read Mark Waid’s Daredevil book. What an awesome book!
September 19th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Gonna be depressed if Green Arrow goes back to being an ultra-liberal homeless guy. Don’t fuck this up, Giffen.
September 19th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
green arrow is lame, but a good writer can make a lame character very interesting (ie: daredevil). but this comic was a major disastear from start to finish. DCNU is looking like a total waste of time
September 19th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Good to see Krul off the book. Not like the book was in good hands before he got to it. Black Canary/Green Arrow anyone?
September 19th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Wow. Arsenal, it seems that most of your JT Krul hate is misdirected.
Murdered a young kid Lian Harper in cold blood – James Robinson (Cry for Justice) — pushed by Editorial
Had GA commit murderous acts and deeds – James Robinson (Cry for Justice)
Chopped of Roy/Red arrow’s hand, a grieving dad – James Robinson (cry for Justice) + JT Krul (Rise of Arsenal)
Had Black canary divorce off GA at the worst moment possible – (JT Krul – editorial cut his story from 5 issues to 2)
Booted away Mia and Connor out of the book for no good reason. (JT Krul)
Comes back with a new GA that is just a bad version of Iron Man.
September 19th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
What’s a distear?
I don’t care for the opinion of illiterate low lives on the reboot
September 19th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
The only Green Arrow I’ve ever liked is Connor Hawke—someone at DC, please bring him back!
September 19th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
“Wow. Arsenal, it seems that most of your JT Krul hate is misdirected.”
OK maybe I’m not being entirely fair on him, other people are too blame too.
One thing Im sure of though is that his writing on GA did not interest me,it was dull. Anyway I do wish him well on Captain atom and future projects.
September 19th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
I think it might have been better to let him finish 6 issues and then passs the reins but whatever. this does not bode well for the DCnU.
September 19th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
@LGBoex I have to disagree about his Teen Titans work. He and Nicola were a dynamite team. He made it feel like the Teen Titans from the beginning of this launch again. he also introduced a fun new character, Solstice. I wish him well on Captain Atom and his future work.
“This does not bode well for the DCnU” A tad over dramatic, Ziyad. lol
September 19th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Eh, I’m curious to see how Captain Atom does. Editorial and Robinson certainly screwed up for GA stuff prior to the reboot Krul was probably working under severe limitations, but I doubt that any editor insisted that heroine suddenly have hallucinogenic properties or that Arsenal imagine a dead cat to be his daughter. I’ve been a DC fan for 20-some years and I want stuff to do well, and I liked his Teen Titans well enough, but Arsenal was ridiculous and Blackest Night Titans was majorly flawed. I’m not overflowing with confidence on Atom or the mystery project.
And, as someone else noted above, this decision would have been made before the reviews / sales came out, keeping that from affecting the decision. However, like I said above, some of this week’s reviews will likely prompt very similar swap-outs. With more than half of the books so far getting reviews calling them mediocre to bad – and with a shrinking / shrunken market on top of that – I can’t figure out why a mixed bag of 52 books was a better idea of 20-some books by writers who have shown some consistent quality (Morrison, Johns, Simone, Cornell, Lemire). I mean, even though Simone’s getting bad reviews on Batgirl at least editorial acted in good faith (on choosing her, not on making Babs walk). The fact that Krul and Winnick’s books are being called mediocre instead of bad is pure luck, and I don’t understand why any creator whose work doesn’t usually wow people is on any title.
And sniperboy4, Daredevil was somewhere between a B and D list character for years, plus Waid’s run is partially reinventing him after Shadowland exhausted the long standing dark-and-brooding paradigm. Green Arrow was also a number one book under Kevin Smith and did great under Meltzer after. If Mark Waid, Greg Rucka, Jeff Lemire, Dan Slott, Paul Cornell, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, or one of many other creators out there had been given free reign – or even a partially constrained editorial mandate – to relaunch the character this would probably have been a top reviewed title. I mean, Animal Man and Frankenstein are both ridiculous, D-list characters and check out the reviews on both titles. It’s all about the creators, not the characters.
September 19th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
JT deserved his spot on GL after his run on Brightest Day GL, but #1 was panned by all critics and most importantly by the readers. In several polls it was ranked the WORST comic of the 1st half of DC’s relaunch. There is nothing more to read into it than that.
September 20th, 2011 at 5:48 am
I agree with Chris. That book wasn’t just pedestrian; it was absolutely terrible. These #1s should have been the best, most attention grabbing efforts from every creator involved. Too bad a lot of them fell short of that mark already.
September 20th, 2011 at 6:17 am
JT deserved his spot on GL after his run on Brightest Day GL, but #1 was panned by all critics and most importantly by the readers. In several polls it was ranked the WORST comic of the 1st half of DC’s relaunch. There is nothing more to read into it than that.
@Chris – Green Lantern? its about Green Arrow isn’t it.
Good to see Krul off the book. Not like the book was in good hands before he got to it. Black Canary/Green Arrow anyone?
@olh:I enjoyed GA/BC series much more than this, the robin hood stuff and the issue #1 were just bland and boring. Some people can be bad writers yet still they can make the book relatable and fun, krul maybe a good writer, but his style of writing is dull for my taste.
But good luck to him on his Atom series, seems like a perfect fit for his expertise.
Giffen and Jurgens really need to ig deep to the core roots of Green Arrow. The Mike Grell era was the best of its kind, something closer to that would be awesome.
The only Green Arrow I’ve ever liked is Connor Hawke—someone at DC, please bring him back!
@catsmeow12 Connor Hawke is awesome, loved his dragon’s blood series. I don’t think he should replace the original Green Arrow. he can come back as Speedy or another superhero with arrows. Longshaft lol
September 20th, 2011 at 7:32 am
Check out my blog, where I savage Krul’s first issue of Green Arrow:
Underwaterunicorn.blogspot.com
September 20th, 2011 at 7:55 am
They should contract writers to write a certain amount of issues.
All these project hopping hurts the quality of the books.
September 20th, 2011 at 8:57 am
I’m probably one of the few people who ACTUALLY enjoyed Green Arrow #1. Maybe I was too blown away with the artwork of Jurgens and Perez. Considering the pre-FlashPoint Green Arrow issues, I thought The New 52 Green Arrow was a breath of fresh air.
As someone who has read the many different incarnations of Green Arrow, I thought The New 52 Green Arrow #1 did it’s job of presenting a younger, not as dark Oliver; gave a glimmer on why Oliver became Green Arrow; and shows that Oliver wants to shy away from lethal weapons. When Green Arrow, however, shot someone’s hands through with regular arrows seems to contradict his non-lethal approach.
Maybe this has been answered in other blogs or reviews, but isn’t the brunette in red-and-blue on the last page Donna Troy? At least, that’s why I’d like to hope as I want to see Donna Troy in The New 52.
September 20th, 2011 at 9:26 am
-Murdered a young kid Lian Harper in cold blood
Had GA commit murderous acts and deeds
Chopped of Roy/Red arrow’s hand, a grieving dad-
These all happened in Justice league: Cry for Justice which was written by James Robinson NOT JT Krul!
You should get your facts straight before you blast the man. Fact is his entire time on GA he was hamstrung by Editorial Directives.
Been a GA Fan since I first read GL/GA 76 when I was 8 and like the new book as well…sad to see JT go but interested to see what Dan and Keith do with the character.
September 20th, 2011 at 11:04 am
I don’t really mind books switching creators this early in the DCnU because it’s giving DC a chance to play with reactions to different writers’ work on the same character before there’s a lot more post-relaunch continuity to mess up.