Nine Of Brian Wood's DC Comics That Never Were

[Rich Johnston]

Brian Wood, currently to be seen on comics such as Conan, Star Wars and The Massive for Dark Horse Comics and his upcoming Mara from Image Comics, did have a few spits and spots for DC Comics. And he's made a list of the pitches that never made it to print. Including an original graphic novel with Jamie McKelvie

1. Rima The Jungle Girl - I was asked by Azzarello to write a miniseries for his First Wave thing, and I wrote the outline and met with the editor and got that approved and all seemed cool, but the green light to start scripting never came, and to this day I have no idea why. I like the story, and since I wasn?t paid anything by DC for the outline the story?s mine, so maybe I?ll find a use for it.

2. (The Original) Anthem - I?ve since reused the title, but I had an OGN project approved at Vertigo with Jame McKelvie on art that, and I can?t even explain why, just dropped off the edge of the world. This was late 2009, and I suspect it was the changing of regime at DC that was to blame. This wasn?t the most traditionallycommercialproject, and I think in the aftermath it was quietly disposed of. Following that, I reconfigured this concept in at least a half dozen different ways, trying to make it palatable to DC, with no luck at all.

3. The Re-Imagined Wildstorm Universe - talked a bit about that here. I had a year of stories mapped out for Wildcats, The Authority, and a new title that I?m not sure we ever decided on a name, but it was a sort of Stormwatch meets Global Frequency thing, using a wide cast of characters, including the DV8 kids.

4. Superman Beyond - I did a few rounds of pitches but this one I pulled the plug on, and the process was starting to remind me too much of Supergirl.

5. Supergirl - whatever you?ve heard about this online is probably true. Maybe I?ll put the finished scripts online when I?m on my deathbed.

6. Green Arrow - this was only a pitch, originally written for the digital office, for a digital-first series. Last I heard Jim Lee liked it and tucked it away for possible future use in the DCU. This was late 2010.

7. Starve - my foodie comic, fully developed as a Vertigo monthly and ready to go at a moment?s notice, only to be scooped by that Anthony Bourdain graphic novel. Lesson learned: don?t wait too long to pitch.

8. Gotham: Neighborhood Rebellion aka Catwoman Year 100 - When Bob Schreck was at DC, he asked me to pitch a few things, and I did, and none of them got past the first draft pitch stage. This was one of them, a far flung future crime story featuring a young girl named Nomi Blume (I?ve since used that name in Ultimate X-Men for the Mach Two character? cuz nothing goes to waste). The other pitches I can?t locate.

9 QC (short for Quattrocento) - a Vertigo miniseries about inventors and secret societies and musical prodigies in 15th century Italy, with the same darker tone that Northlanders has. This is still in my ?active? file, and I hope to get it out there someday.

[die-yng]

Wildstorm by Brian Wood? I would have liked that very much. Bummer it never came to that. Some of those others sound pretty interesting too.

[Joe Kalicki]

It seems like he and DC both tried pretty hard to work together, even after he was upset by the Supergirl thing. It's a shame it didn't happen, because his stuff at Marvel has been pretty weak. Though, admittedly, having to clean up the UXM mess Spencer left behind must not have been easy.

[Tom Strong]

What a damn shame.

[Hi_HorseLarnick]

Meh, these are all too unique and interesting new ways of re-interpreting the characters for young, modern audiences.

I want grim-dark, gore-porn, action-figure theater horseshit please!

[MicroZone]

Not a big fan so I'm not sure he'd work well on the Beyond universe or Supergirl. Hes too dark and preachy for something that is supposed to be fun. Still, even dark and preachy would have been better than the New 52 Green Arrow we got, but the Arrow digital comic by the show's writers. The strips are short, but aren't bad. Liked the one with Moira.

[CammyKnoxville]

I'm glad to learn he still has plans for a few of those pitches, for I'll definitely checkout whatever he's doing. He's way too good for DC, let alone the bullshit he had to deal with.

[Joe Kalicki]

I'm glad to learn he still has plans for a few of those pitches, for I'll definitely checkout whatever he's doing. He's way too good for DC, let alone the bullshit he had to deal with.

Oh please. He's wasn't "too good" to work for DC for years.

[flavioeldritch]

WOW! Brian Wood whining about DC Comics? Who would've expected that, huh?

[Joe Kalicki]

WOW! Brian Wood whining about DC Comics? Who would've expected that, huh?

Is it whining? I only read what's in Rich's post, but he doesn't seem very whiny. Everything listed here has a reasonable conclusion to it.