DC Cancels Its Longest Running Series, Hellblazer, And Replaces It With New 52 Title, Constantine

[Blackfist]

To DiDio, Harras, Johns, and Lee with love:

You know come to think of it i think i got this issue signed... ebay!!

[Joe Kalicki]

Cornell only entered comics a couple years ago, and he does a ton of work outside of comics. In fact, he left Demon Knights out of exhaustion. Similarly, Gillen is Marvel exclusive and would have had to wait at least a few years before getting around to it. Then you have Warren Ellis who already did write for the book.

It's fine to be a fan and defend DC, but this bending backwards straw grasping is just ridiculous.

Okay, so you're argument is that they should keep publishing a title just 'cause one day some big name writer's contract will open up and he might have the urge to write it, assuming they even have a good story. Now that's ridiculous.

[not him - HIM]

comicbookdb.com absolutely rules for looking up stuff like this

I'm proud to say that said fact came without the assistance of such online tools. A pity that I can't remember my pin number or my wife's birthday half the time.

[jyork]

I didn't mean Si Spurrier, that was an error on my part. Si Spencer, maybe I'm thinking of? Very similar names, whoever wrote it. Eh, too lazy to check. It was Hellblazer: City of Demons with artmy Sean Murphy though. Which was very, very good.

[lrod557]

I just saw this while looking around in Kickstarter and apparently there is a group trying to create a live action adaptation of Hellblazer very faithful to the comics here is the link
Hellblazer (Series) by MaddMannFilms — Kickstarter

[Mike H.]

The book hasn't had a big name writer on it since Azzarello left.

Yeah, that Mike Carey guy is a total unknown. As is Andy Diggle. Their names have never been used to promote a book at either of the Big Two. Or are we equating "name" with "creator that the late Wizard Magazine would have been most likely to fawn over"?

[DarthEwok]

Not to mention, Azz wasn't as big a name at the time he was on Hellblazer

[obii]

*shuders to imagine a Chris Claremont Hellblazer*
Though I would totally buy an Aragones Hellblazer!!!!!!

[SAMURAI36]

I'm not sure what you're arguing here. But if you are trying to equate 'fertile' with high sales, then you misread the very article that you yourself posted. He was taking about fertile creative ground, as was I

Clearly you didn't read the entire article then, let alone the exerpt I posted here. Wayne and Cunningham aren't the EIC's of DC. They are strictly in charge of the financial aspect, and that's what they talked about, from beginning to end.

Oh, it's just a game they're playing. If it were any other company, or any other year, there'd be nothing but understanding. But a little more than a year ago, a few trolls decided it'd be funny to take up the "cause" of DC Comics and the New 52, and fixate on praising it, shielding it from any criticism, no matter how big or small, arguable or obvious. Part of the game appears to be to cast even the mildest of opposing comments as overwrought and extreme.

Yeah, that's precisely what's happening here. :-\

My issue isn't that I don't have empathy that a beloved book is being cancelled. My issue is the ridiculousness that gets attached to that sentiment.

Lobdell's TEEN TITANS has been fun and entertaining. Each issue has been packed with story and character. I love the book.

LEGION LOST under Nicieza was superb (it does help that Dawnstar, Gates, Timber Wolf, Tellus and Wildfire are in my top ten favorites LSHers; I even like Yera.) I wish Fabian had stayed on the book. It lost its "edge" when he left.

LSH has been a mess. I cannot wait for when Giffen comes on board.

BLUE BEETLE is pretty good.

I haven't read RAVAGERS yet.

Granted, Ravagers is one of the few New 52 books I'm not interested in.

I tried taking that approach , but they really went out of their way to erase simply TT history... Then they reprint old TT books which was really weird

What's reallly weird, is that people think that DC can't somehow continue to release the old DCU printings. I'm all for the New 52, but there are easily a handful of old GN's that I can't wait for them to (re)release.

There is no either/or here.

Better days, yes. No Teen Titans story or series will ever surpass the Wolfman/Perez NEW TEEN TITANS. But that doesn't all subsequent Titans stories will never be enjoyable.

As someone that could really care less about Wolfman's TT's, I'm fine with new incarnations of the characters/team.

Big ticket items always sell less units than cheaper ones. Most people who work in shops know this.

Righhhhht. That's why we can't keep the Absolute Volumes of Walking Dead in the Store, while we still have stacks upon stacks of A+X taking up space on the racks.

It's the 'long tail' sales period that helps: Watchmen is still coming up with 20-30 grand a month because people still know the name. 5-10 years from now, who will remember Hellblazer? You think JLD/Constantine trades will outperform the Hellblazer trades, and their back catalogue, fair enough. After all, you're the - choke - 'expert'...

I can't tell who'se "the - choke - expert" here, because JLD books and trades are outselling nearly all the HB trades. In fact, I think I've sold less than a hanful of HB trades since I've started working at my shop. I've sold dozens of JLD trades.

But clearly I'm no "choke - expert" on the subject, so please, do continue to enlighten me.

What blame? DC are making a business move, some fans are not happy, I can see why they're not happy. Your knee jerk urge to defend anything DC do is still vaguely disturbing. Maybe you should either drink the Koolaid or bathe in it, not both?

Yeah, claiming DC is somehow the epitome of evil, because they cancelled a long standing book that wasn't selling that well, in order to reposition the character, is somehow far from a knee jerk reaction, right?

Fan responsibilities? Buy the books you enjoy, don't buy books you don't enjoy, provide honest feedback to publishers on which are which and why.

And you think that's what's happened in this instance, right?

Beyond that, as paying customers, they're already keeping people in work. Including you.

They sure as hell didn't keep the HB creative team in work, did they?

I find it laughable someone asked what Vertigo book has been in the Top 20? None, obviously. Besides Walking Dead, what indie period is in the Top 20? Hell, 52 Constantine won't hit Top 20.

I love how people predict stuff. I mentioned the top 20 in response to someone else's ridiculous statement. So now my statement is bookended by two ridiculous ones. People should really work a bit harder to keep up with the discussion.

Fact is, they cancelled a book that's been around forever, for a book that will be cancelled and ignored. Look at how many creators were dissapointed by this on Twitter and you will see why the fans are upset.

And..... This is an influential factor on DC.... Why, exactly?

I truly believe sales have very little to do with the decision, pretty much no matter what anyone says. It's not like sales dropped much recently, it's never been a huge seller. They just want to have a new 52 book. Period.

So then, I will write you off as someone that lives in a fantasy world. Cunningham and Wayne already commented on the reasons why. But of course, we should listen to the ranting fans, over the people who are actually responsible for this stuff.

You know, the "choke - experts".

Well, DUH! I keep trying to sink to a level that you can comprehend. No chance of that...

Dude, beat it. You're not even funny at this point, let alone relevant. Leave it alone.

Well, there's this book I have liked just great for about 15 years now, but DC are cancelling it. That's what I'm bemoaning (and to be fair, less complaining than mourning). You don't seem to think it's OK that I'm sad that a book I have loved and supported for years is ending, for some reason.

Yeah, because that's precisely what I've said here. You don't have the right to be sad about the book's cancellation. Thanks for misinterpreting everything I've specifically stated.

But it's a vertigo book, Joe. Not a true "DC" book. I'm sure if you look at the numbers for Vertigo singles, you could justifiably cancel any of them if your basing it strictly on poor sales.

Except, nearly all the Vertigo books that are specifically DC properties seem to have been placed in a different category by DC itself. Why does this continue to get overlooked?

It might sell "double" but for how long, six months? Then it'll just slide down the charts to cancellation.

Right, because that's exactly what happened to the book that JC is currently appearing in. JLD is clearly on its way to cancellation, as we speak, right?

Also, good talent actually yearned to work on Hellblazer, whereas I doubt talent is hoping "one day" to work on 52 Constantine. I see 52 Constantine as a short term solution that's taking away a valued and highly regarded book in the long term. Hellblazer was a cornerstone book, whereas 52 Constantine is just another book that will eventually probably end up being a blip on the radar. A footnote in the history of the character.

You'll pardon me if I place no stock in your predictions. For all this "love" for a character, I continue to be amazed at people who route for his downfall, rather than his success.

Oh I dunno. Milligan's a well known name (at least in the UK), but he's one of those writers that people often talk about but rarely buy anything that they write. What better writer to see out Hellblazer in its dying days?

Precisely my point from the start. All this praise, but everybody's mouths are writing checks that their ass can't cash. Lip service will only get you but so far in life.

I'll put it this way, I'll find the link, but a TON of creators were upset on twitter that they'll never be able to write Hellblazer. Paul Cornell is one of them.

So? How many of those creators actually bought the book themselves? I'd wager just as many as the "fans" here who are complaining, but admitted to not buying it either.

Besides, how many of them actually pitched a HB idea to DC/Vertigo?

If DC is ripping these characters from Vertigo (Animal Man, Swamp Thing) - what are they going to replace them with?

LOL @ "ripping". But from what I understand (and I'm far from "an - choke - expert" on this), is that Vertigo will more or less contain more creator-owned work, like it basically already currently is.

Cornell only entered comics a couple years ago, and he does a ton of work outside of comics.

It's fine to be a fan and defend DC, but this bending backwards straw grasping is just ridiculous.

Ridiculous indeed, especially considering the fallacy of your first statement:


Paul Cornell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comics
Doctor Who: "Stairway to Heaven" (with co-author John Freeman and pencils by Gerry Dolan and inks by Rex Ward, in Doctor Who Magazine #156, 1990)
"Teenage Kicks" (illustrated text story, in Doctor Who Magazine #163, 1990)
"The Chameleon Factor" (with pencils by Lee Sullivan and inks by Mark Farmer, in Doctor Who Magazine #174, 1991)
"Emperor of the Daleks" (with co-author John Freeman and art by Lee Sullivan, in Doctor Who Magazine #197-202, 1993)
"Time and Time Again" (with art by John Ridgway, in Doctor Who Magazine #207, 1993
"Metamorphosis" (with art by Lee Sullivan, in Doctor Who Yearbook 1993)
"Blood Invocation" (with art by John Ridgway, in Doctor Who Yearbook 1995)
Pan-African Judges (with Siku, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 2 #44-49, 1993–1994)
Deathwatch: "Faust & Falsehood" (with Adrian Salmon, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 3 #8-13, 1995–1996)
XTNCT (with D'Israeli, in Judge Dredd Megazine #209-214, 2003–2004, trade paperback, XTNCT: CM ND HV G F Y THNK YR HRD NGH!, 48 pages, hardcover, December 2006, ISBN 1-904265-69-3)
Wisdom (with Trevor Hairsine and Manuel Garcia, 6-issue limited series, Marvel Comics, January-July 2007, tpb, 144 pages, August 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2123-4)
Young Avengers Presents #4 (with Mark Brooks, Marvel Comics, April 2008, collected in Young Avengers Presents, 144 pages, October 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2975-8)
Captain Britain and MI: 13 #1-15 plus annual (with Leonard Kirk, ongoing series, Marvel Comics, May 2008 - July 2009):
Secret Invasion (collects Captain Britain and MI: 13 #1-4, 104 pages, Panini Comics, January 2009, ISBN 1-84653-407-0, Marvel Comics, March 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3344-5)
Hell Comes To Birmingham (collects Captain Britain and MI: 13 #5-9, 120 pages, Panini Comics, June 2009, ISBN 1-84653-423-2, Marvel Comics, July 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3345-3)
Vampire State (collects Captain Britain and MI: 13 #10-15 + annual #1, 184 pages, Marvel Comics, October 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3952-4)
Fantastic Four: True Story (with Horacio Dominguez, 4-issue mini-series, Marvel Comics, July–October 2008)
Dark Reign: Young Avengers (with Mark Brooks, 5-issue limited series, Marvel Comics, May–September 2009)
Dark X-Men: The Beginning (with Leonard Kirk, 3-issue mini-series, Marvel Comics, September–October 2009, hardcover, December 2009, ISBN 0-7851-4230-4)
Black Widow: Deadly Origin (with Tom Raney and John Paul Leon, 4-issue mini-series, Marvel Comics, January-April 2010)
Dark X-Men (with Leonard Kirk, 5-issue limited series, Marvel Comics, January-May 2010, premiere hardcover, June 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4526-5)
Action Comics #890-904 (with artist Pete Woods, ongoing series, DC Comics, August 2010 - October 2011)
Soldier Zero #1-7 (with Javier Pina, ongoing series, POW! Entertainment/Boom! Studios, October 2010 - April 2011)
Knight and Squire (with artist Jimmy Broxton, 6-issue limited series, DC Comics, December 2010 - May 2011)
Batman & Robin #17-19 (with Scott McDaniel, ongoing series, DC Comics, November 2010 - January 2011)
Stormwatch #1-6[26] (with Miguel Sepulveda, ongoing series, DC Comics, November 2011-February 2012)
Demon Knights #1- (with Diogenes Neves, ongoing series, DC Comics, November 2011-present)
Saucer Country #1- (with Ryan Kelly, ongoing series, Vertigo, May 2012-present)

As someone already pointed out, Cornell has been writing comics for over 2 decades now.

[Peter J Poole]

Righhhhht. That's why we can't keep the Absolute Volumes of Walking Dead in the Store, while we still have stacks upon stacks of A+X taking up space on the racks.

Yeah, claiming DC is somehow the epitome of evil, because they cancelled a long standing book that wasn't selling that well, in order to reposition the character, is somehow far from a knee jerk reaction, right?

a) Walking Dead HC vol 8 moved 5,221 units in September. Obviously A+X will never top that...

But keep trying, I'm sure you'll figure out how to get order numbers right eventually

b) Show me where I claimed that.

Cheers