At the panel celebrating Vertigo's tenth anniversary at Comic-Con International, Vertigo Editor-in-Chief Karen Berger announced that DC had signed writer Grant Morrison to a two-year exclusive contract.  One of the top scribes in comics, Morrison has always had strong ties to DC, where he came to prominence with Arkham Asylum, Animal Man, and Doom Patrol.  Even after Morrison agreed to write New X-Men for Marvel in 2001, he continued to write for DC, producing Vertigo titles such as Filth.  Morrison's recent run on New X-Men has been a success, with the title placing consistently in the top ten (see 'X-Books, Green Arrow Jump In May' for the strong initial surge created when Morrison took over).  An inside source told ICv2 that Morrison's remaining run on New X-Men would be short (issue #154 is reportedly his last).  If so, Morrison's defection to DC could be a blow to Marvel, unless the 'house of ideas' can come up with a suitable replacement.
 

 Morrison's signing was just the overture to a symphony of exclusives that went on throughout the weekend as DC subsequently announced that Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale had also signed two-year exclusive deals, and that Greg Rucka had signed for three years.  It was as if Marvel's low profile presence in San Diego had emboldened DC, which, buoyed by a recent string of sell-outs and the continuing popularity of the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee Batman series, adopted an increasingly confident swagger while dropping additional 'exclusive-signing' bombs on successive days.  DC Editorial VP Dan DiDio told ICv2 that the signings were not aimed at disrupting Marvel, but were rather an attempt to 'get the best possible people' and put them on 'the projects that suit them the best.'  DiDio pointed to the example of the long-running Batman series, which has become the hit comic of 2003 thanks to the topflight creative team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee -- a success DiDio wants to emulate throughout the DC line.  DiDio has changed DC's strategic focus from reactive to proactive.  DiDio wants to get his 'dream teams' in place and keep them there.  He told ICv2, 'As Batman and Superman go, so goes DC.  We've turned Batman around, and now we've got to do it with Superman.  I'm convinced we can, and when we do, everything will fall into place.'

 

Will Marvel counterattack at Wizard World Chicago?  Stay tuned.